Jared Nelson – TouchArcade

We Are Disney Marks Now – The TouchArcade Show #557

Jared Nelson — Fri, 19 May 2023 23:30:33 +0000

It’s a packed TouchArcade Show this week as we recap our trip to Orlando last week and the many activities we did while there, such as going to Medieval Times, Universal City Walk, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios Park aka home of Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge. That last one truly was a fun time. And as luck would have it, the same day we visited Disney was also the same day The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom came out, and we have both been playing practically non-stop for the past week straight. So naturally the rest of the podcast is filled with discussion about that.

Don’t forget to shoot us emails with any questions, feedback, or anything else relevant or irrelevant to podcast@toucharcade.com. We read ’em all, and love decoding messages written entirely in emoji. As always, you can listen to us with the links below… And if you like what you hear, please subscribe and/or drop us a review in iTunes. Much appreciated!

As a companion to this audio podcast, we also do a video version of the same show that is exclusive to Patreon which allows you to see us playing the games we’re talking about. Backers can view the most recent video episodes of the TouchArcade show by clicking here. Be sure you’re logged in to see the latest content. For everyone else who is curious, you can check out our public patreon posts to see older episodes of the video podcast. If you like what you see, consider becoming a TouchArcade Patreon backer.

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Direct Link: TouchArcadeShow-557.mp3

TouchArcade Game of the Week: ‘Rytmos’

Jared Nelson — Fri, 19 May 2023 22:53:48 +0000

Developer Floppy Club launched their musical puzzle game Rytmos on PC and console earlier this year, and now this week it’s made its way to iOS devices where I feel like it’s probably most at home on the touchscreen. It’s an important distinction that this is a musical puzzle game and not a rhythm game, as you aren’t playing to the beat of the music or being scored on your accuracy. This is more like a puzzle game where the music is integrated in a really wonderful way, and it also serves as a celebration of some pretty uncommon forms of music and the instruments that are used to make it.

Rytmos is split up into 7 solar systems that are each based on a certain style of music. Within each solar system there are 3 planets, and each planet is focused on a specific type of instrument. The planets are cube-shaped and so have 6 different sides each, and on each side is where you’ll find a puzzle to solve. Each solved side introduces a new sound, and as you solve more sides more sounds come into play, eventually creating a full song once all sides are solved. It’s very fun to see the music broken down in this way and makes you appreciate every note and beat that goes into creating an entire song.

The puzzles themselves are kind of like block-sliding puzzles where you draw a line from a starting point and must create a loop across the surface and end right back where you started. There are nodes in each level that will trigger a part of each song, and to earn Gold on a level you’ll need to incorporate each node into your line loop. Hazards, moving objects, and the layouts of each level make this much trickier than it might seem at first, but thankfully there’s no time limit or any reason to rush so you’re free to try as long as you like to figure out that Gold solution. Or you can settle for less than Gold and simply move on, coming back later to conquer the Gold if you wish.

I think that’s what I like so much about Rytmos, it is a very chill game to play and in a lot of ways feels just as much like a musical toy than a game. Some of the solutions to capture every node are very clever and satisfying to figure out, and it’s fun to do it against the backdrop of all this interesting music being created. Beating a planet also means you unlock a little interactive version of that planet’s specific insturment which you can play and even record little clips of if you want, further adding to the toy-like nature of Rytmos. This one is free to check out the first planet with a one-time $5 IAP to unlock the full game and I highly suggest checking out at least the free portion if you’re into unique interactive musical experiences.

‘Kloot Arena’ is Like PvP Marbles Played with Madballs from the Makers of ‘Rest in Pieces’ and ‘Gumslinger’, Launching Next Month

Jared Nelson — Fri, 19 May 2023 00:00:51 +0000

We haven’t heard much from developer Itatake since the release of their silly Spaghetti Arms back in December of 2020, but previously they have been responsible for some excellent mobile games like the creepy swinger Rest in Pieces or the PvP dueling game Gumslinger, among others. After a two-plus year hiatus they’re now readying the release of their latest mobile game and it’s called Kloot Arena. This is another PvP-focused game that’s essentially one big game of marbles played out in an arena with turn-based battling where your team is trying to eliminate your opponent’s team. Like any of Itatake’s games, the visuals here are quite impressive, and Kloot Arena certainly has a very specific vibe going for it, which I’d liken to Madballs if you remember those toys from the ’80s. Check out the trailer.

While the base of your characters are nothing more than spheres, you’ll be able to outfit these guys (and gals?) with gear that you can upgrade and improve over time, giving your team unique abilities as well as unique looks. You’ll be able to battle online against friends in head-to-head battles or against random opponents in ranked play. This seems like a good fit for mobile and given Itatake’s previous efforts I’m certainly interested in checking out Kloot Arena. The game is available for pre-order on the iOS App Store here and available for -pre-registration on Google Play for Android here with an expected release date of June 14th, so keep an eye out for it in just shy of a month’s time.

Out Now: ‘Rytmos’, ‘Time Master Pocket Edition’, ‘Torecower’, ‘Run Legends – Co-op Fitness RPG’, ‘Redline Royale’, ‘SWAP: Mobile Edition’, ‘Campfire Cat Cafe’, ‘Pokipet’ and More

Jared Nelson — Thu, 18 May 2023 04:48:29 +0000

Each and every day new mobile games are hitting the App Store, and so each week we put together a big old list of all the best new releases of the past seven days. Back in the day the App Store would showcase the same games for a week, and then refresh those features each Thursday. Because of that developers got into the habit of releasing their games throughout Wednesday or very early Thursday in order to hopefully get one of those coveted features spots. Nowadays the App Store refreshes constantly, so the need for everyone to release all on the same day has diminished. Still, we’ve kept our weekly Wednesday night format as for years that’s the time people knew to check TouchArcade for the list of new games. And so without further ado please check out the full list of this week’s new games below, and let us know in the comments section which games you’ll be picking up!

BLACKPINK THE GAME (Free)

iTunes Description

Become BLACKPINK’s producer and manage your own agency, solve puzzles to clear schedules for BLACKPINK.
Customize your members with stunning outfits and play mini-games with your friends in BLACKPINK WORLD.

Forum Thread: BLACKPINK THE GAME (by TakeOne Company)

Campfire Cat Cafe (Free)

iTunes Description

A purrfectly relaxing game! Start your cafe in the forest. Hire adorable cat staff. Cook delicious authentic foods from around the world! Attract and serve cute animal customers and laugh at their furry funny stories. Relax and earn tips as your kitten staff works while you’re idle.

Forum Thread: Campfire Cat Cafe (by HyperBeard)

Lacuna – Sci-Fi Noir Adventure ($5.99)

iTunes Description

Here’s the deal
You are Neil Conrad, CDI agent. Awoken by the news of a murder, you rush into a case that will soon turn your life and the whole solar system upside down. Ask questions, collect evidence, and put the pieces together until the ugly truth reveals itself… or not.

Forum Thread: Lacuna – Sci-Fi Noir Adventure (by Assemble Entertainment)

League Bowling ACA NEOGEO ($3.99)

iTunes Description

LEAGUE BOWLING is a bowling game released by SNK in 1990.
You are able to select your dominant arm and ball weight, using precise controls to play just like real bowling!
Choose from one of three modes, REGULATION, FLASH, and STRIKE 90.
*Game sections requiring use of the connection jack are not included.
*It corresponds to up to 4 people using 2 controllers.

Forum Thread: League Bowling ACA NEOGEO (by SNK)

Merge Survival: Wasteland (Free)

iTunes Description

This is a story of people surviving in the post-apocalypse world created by environmental pollution and disasters.
Merge to create survival materials, and find any new resources or hidden locations by exploring.
Create an “Eco-Friendly Camp" to live in harmony with nature and other survivors.

Forum Thread: Merge Survival: Wasteland (by Sticky Hands)

Pokipet (Free)

iTunes Description

Raise and own a pet together with your friends.

Create a group pet with your friends, family, or co-workers and give your pet the best life possible.

Forum Thread: Pokipet (by MoonBear)

Redline Royale (Free)

iTunes Description

Redline Royale is a multiplayer Battle Royale with up to 20 players online. Fight your way through an engaging environment & online opponents. You better stay sharp as you move from zone to zone with one goal in mind – be the last racer standing. Join the full-throttle fun today!

Forum Thread: Redline Royale (by National Product Group)

Run Legends: Co-op Fitness RPG (Free)

iTunes Description

Walk or run outside to defeat the villainous Sappers who are draining humanity’s energy. Upgrade your gear, make new friends, and learn more about the world of Run Legends as you grow stronger in real life!

Run Legends is the first-ever fitness game that you can play synchronously with your friends, no matter where they are in the world. Your movement controls your character: head outside and unleash skills in battle by moving faster and slower.

Forum Thread: Run Legends: Co-op Fitness RPG (by Talofa Games)

Rytmos (Free)

iTunes Description

Rytmos is a relaxing puzzle game, where you create music by solving maze puzzles. Travel from planet to planet and discover new music.

Solve the puzzles on each side of the cubic planets and create small musical loops that slowly evolves into full music compositions. Unlock 20+ musical toys and jam on top of the planet music.

Learn a bit of rare music history while playing the game.

Forum Thread: Rytmos (by Floppy Club)

Soulworker Urban Strategy (Free)

iTunes Description

Co-op simulation played strategically

Fight with soul workers against endless lootings and destructions for survival in ruined cities.

Forum Thread: Soulworker Urban Strategy (by MOBIRIX)

SWAP : Mobile Edition (Free)

iTunes Description

A simple yet brutally difficult game that will undoubtedly frustrate and personally insult you. Uncover a story full of psychological manipulation and emotional warfare while banging your head against unfairly designed levels. Sound like fun? Great! Let’s see how that optimism is doing for you in a few hours.

Forum Thread: SWAP : Mobile Edition (by Sumi Labs)

Time Master Pocket Edition ($4.99)

iTunes Description

After the disappearance of his sister Sophia (which may or may not have been his fault),
talented wizard Zeno vows to never take up his wizard’s staff again.
That is until a mysterious voice promises that Zeno could get his sister back…
he only needs to take on a challenge created by the Ancients.

Forum Thread: Time Master Pocket Edition (by Crescent Moon Games)

Torecower ($2.99)

iTunes Description

Torecower is an arcade wave-based minimalist game where you build automatic turrets to shoot enemies. Each turret has an unique attack behaviour. After finishing a wave, you can get an upgrade on the skill tree. Choose wisely to make your turrets stronger.

Forum Thread: Torecower (by MAZETTE LTD)

More than 8 Years in the Making, the ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ Movie Finally Releases this Fall, Latest Trailer Looks Really Good

Jared Nelson — Wed, 17 May 2023 23:23:13 +0000

Around the middle of the 2010s there was simply nothing hotter on planet Earth than the Five Nights at Freddy’s franchise. The games had captured the imaginations of a very hardcore fanbase and with new games coming at a fast clip that fanbase made sure that Freddy Fazbear and Co. were the most talked about thing on the internet at any given time. Naturally the explosion of the franchise resulted in all sorts of licensing and merchandise deals including clothes, toys, and of course a movie deal. The premise of a pizza place’s animatronic mascots turning into ferocious murderers actually lends itself quite well to a movie adaptation, so it seemed that just like with the mainline game series a film would be cranked out in time to take advantage of the whirlwind of popularity Five Nights at Freddy’s was receiving. That… is not what happened.

Following its initial announcement in 2015, the Five Nights at Freddy’s movie ran into all sorts of trouble, blowing through directors and producers and movie studios like the victims in a horror movie. After announcing a sort of full reboot of the project in early 2017, we haven’t heard much about the movie since other than it’s still being worked on. Now the better part of a decade after its initial announcement and Five Nights at Freddy’s is finally ready to release later this year, as announced in this surprisingly awesome new teaser trailer.

I have no idea if the Five Nights at Freddy’s movie will actually be any good, and I have no idea if that’s what the creators even intend for it to be honest. Horror movies in particular shoot for a certain type of camp and humor rather than trying to win any awards for amazing storytelling. One thing I can say though is that this teaser shows just how well the movie captures the vibe and aesthetic of the Five Nights at Freddy’s games, which isn’t too surprising as series creator Scott Cawthon has been heavily involved in the movie since 2017 when they announced that production would be starting over from scratch. I’m not really that big into the games myself, but I’ll definitely be interested in how this movie turns out when Five Nights at Freddy’s hits theaters and Peacock streaming simultaneously on October 27th this year.

Stylish Musical Puzzler ‘Rytmos’ Lands on iOS Devices this Week, Android to Come Shortly After

Jared Nelson — Wed, 17 May 2023 17:55:18 +0000

Following its well-received launch on PC and Switch a few months back, developer Floppy Club is now bringing its rhythm puzzle game Rytmos to iOS and Android devices later this week. The idea in Rytmos is that you’ll be solving puzzles on each side of a cube, with each side of the cube producing a distinct sound. Solve all sides of the cube and you’ll essentially create a whole song as well as unlock an instrument that was used to create said song. The music isn’t so much integrated into the gameplay as it is a reward for completing puzzles, so don’t expect a full-blown rhythm game or anything, but coupled with the really cool visual style and playful animations it all gels together nicely to create a compelling experience. Check out the new mobile trailer for Rytmos.

While the PC and Switch release of Rytmos was generally received positively, one point I’ve seen mentioned is that the game isn’t all that difficult. However, I think that was by design as Floppy Club aimed to have Rytmos be a relaxing puzzle experience with its focus on music, rather than something with hard time constraints or devious level designs. I’ve also heard that since there’s no crazy difficulty spikes where you may get stuck on a level it keeps the pace nice and breezy, which is something I can appreciate. Currently you can pre-order the mobile version of Rytmos on the iOS App Store, and an Android version is said to be coming sometime after the iOS release. It’s a free download with a one-time $4.99 IAP to unlock the full game, so be sure to check it out when it hits this Thursday the 18th.

‘Time Master’ is a Time-Manipulation Puzzler that’s Making the Jump from PC to Mobile this Week

Jared Nelson — Mon, 15 May 2023 23:57:31 +0000

Released on PC in January of last year, Time Master from developer MorpheusZ is a clever time-manipulation puzzle game, and in collaboration with Crescent Moon Games, it’s going to be getting a mobile release this week. This is an isometric puzzler where you’re able to go through a level and complete a number of actions. Then, you can rewind time and split into a new person while your previous self goes about the business that you just completed. In essence, you are manipulating time in order to have your past selves perform actions that will help you solve the puzzles in Time Master. I am probably doing a bad job at explaining this, so perhaps it’s best if you just check out the trailer from the PC version.

We’ve actually seen this sort of thing before, and off the top of my head the games Persephone and Sometimes You Die come to mind as games where you would use your own previous actions in order to help a future version of yourself. The idea is a very clever one and Time Master has garnered quite a positive reception on Steam, with players saying that it’s the type of game that will really work out your brain. The mobile version is officially called Time Master Pocket Edition and it’s available for pre-order in the iOS App Store right now for $3.99 with a planned release date of May 17th, just a couple of days from now. Keep an eye out for it later this week.

TouchArcade Game of the Week: ‘Lost Words: Beyond the Page’

Jared Nelson — Fri, 12 May 2023 21:00:45 +0000

I love when narrative-heavy games can blend their storytelling with gameplay in really unique ways. I mean, I love games that are almost exclusively about the story with very little interaction at all, and I love games that are focused entirely on gameplay with story elements barely there to string things along, if they’re there at all. But there is something really magical when a game can find that perfect middle ground between those two extremes, and that’s just what Lost Words: Beyond the Page seems to do so well.

This is a game that launched on consoles and PC a couple of years ago, and earned all sorts of recognition at the time for being unique in a gameplay sense but also for its fantastic storytelling. However, this is one of those times where I’m going to say that this is the type of game that almost feels like it was designed for a touchscreen, and this new mobile release of Lost Words might be where the experience feels most at home.

That’s because part of the premise is that you’re exploring the diary of a young girl named Izzy, and you’re literally platforming your way through her thoughts and ideas as they appear as words on the page. Oftentimes you’ll need to rearrange those words to create platforms for your character, and dragging those around and placing them with your finger feels totally natural.

What is Izzy writing in her diary? Well she’s coming up with a fantasy story, a grand adventure that she can read to her grandmother who isn’t doing so well in the hospital. Much of the game is seeing Izzy’s thought process as she comes up with new ideas and characters for her story interspersed with her own real life events and inner thoughts. The adventure starts out as cute sketchbook drawings but can transform into a fully realized, absolutely gorgeous, fantasy world.

It’s this sort of story-within-a-story construct that makes the narrative in Lost Words so powerful and memorable. Izzy’s own real life situations inform her writing and there are interesting parallels between her adventures and those of the character in her story.

The pay model Plug In Digital has gone with for this mobile release is also quite pleasing, as the entire first 2 chapters are available for free with the remaining 6 chapters unlocked through a one-time IAP. You can test drive this experience with no risk and I think for those who enjoy this type of game you’ll have decided to unlock the full thing well before those first 2 chapters are over.

Out Now: ‘The Lord of the Rings: Heroes of Middle-earth’, ‘Lost Words: Beyond the Page’, ‘Peridot’, ‘Zoo Park Story’, ‘TRANSFORMERS Forged to Fight’, ‘Mia and the Dragon Princess’, and More

Jared Nelson — Thu, 11 May 2023 05:51:40 +0000

Fake Future (Free)

iTunes Description

What will happen when AI gains self-awareness and surpasses humanity? What choices will humans make when faced with the appearance of a new energy “Icey"? Countless complex clues point towards an unexplored “pixel" space – the [Fake Future].

The “future” it depicts is hazy yet mysterious, just like the desolation after the destruction of Earth, craving rebirth and exploration. Whether you’re a fan of cyber-pixel style or a sci-fi fanatic, you won’t want to miss this retro-futuristic pixel simulation game. Come and join us now!

Forum Thread: Fake Future (by Sentai Interactive)

Hero Making Tycoon (Free)

iTunes Description

Welcome, my commander, hurry up to develop your hero factory, create a powerful army, and fight against the invasion of monsters!

Different from the usual games, our main character is a cute sausage man!

Open up farms to mass produce sausage men, build automated assembly lines to equip them with armor and weapons, and make them into soldiers of all shapes and sizes!

Forum Thread: Hero Making Tycoon (by HOT GAMES CO)

Huebris Hustle ($0.29)

iTunes Description

Mobile games don’t have to be complicated and expensive. Huebris Hustle is a simple arcade-style game available for some of the cheapest prices on the Apple App Store. Earn points by flying as dangerously close to the game’s obstacles as you can without crashing! But watch out, because the pace escalates quickly into a frantic fight for survival! Earn those bonus points while you still can!

Forum Thread: Huebris Hustle (by Jonathan Curtis)

Knight Dungeons (Free)

iTunes Description

Ready to become a hero? Knight Dungeons is the perfect choice for any aspiring knight! Play through this intense action platformer and battle your way through a kingdom of enemies! With stunning graphics, challenging levels, and exciting boss battles, Knight Dungeons will keep you entertained for hours. Show off your skills and become the ultimate hero today! Knight Dungeons games are known for their tight controls and polish, and this game takes it to the next level.

Forum Thread: Knight Dungeons (by Limitless LLC)

Life Makeover (Free)

iTunes Description

Born in romance, makeover in life.

Life Makeover is a limitless dress-up and social simulation game where you can create your very own avatar, customize dress-up and makeup, design one-and-only garments by yourself, build your dream house, and chill with your besties!

Forum Thread: Life Makeover (by Archosaur Games)

literally – word game (Free)

iTunes Description

literally is a word game in which your main opponent is time. This is a race in which you have to collect words from letters so that the game does not end.

Forum Thread: literally – word game (by Oleksandr Kozlov)

The Lord of the Rings: Heroes of Middle-earth (Free)

iTunes Description

Fantasy and adventure come together in Lord of the Rings: Heroes of Middle-earth, a strategy RPG game based on the trilogy of books by J.R.R. Tolkien. A New Ring has been discovered in Middle-earth that has the power to rewrite history. How the power is used is up to you. Will you wield it for good or will you succumb to evil?

Forum Thread: The Lord of the Rings: Heroes of Middle-earth (by EA)

Lost Words: Beyond the Page (Free)

iTunes Description

Discover an atmospheric narrative adventure where you navigate 2D worlds to solve a great variety of puzzles. Harness words to alter the environment around you in an entirely unique and refreshing style of platforming.

This game will mesmerize players with its unique blend of gameplay mechanics, striking watercolor aesthetic and its unique story crafted by renowned games writer Rhianna Pratchett.

Forum Thread: Lost Words: Beyond the Page (by Plug In Digital)

Mia and the Dragon Princess (Free)

iTunes Description

Mia dreams of adventure, but her feeling of responsibility to her workmates – who have become her surrogate family – keeps her working at a job she’s bored of, living a life she didn’t want. When a mysterious woman (Marshanda) turns up scared and on the run, Mia’s decision to take her under her wing and try to discover her identity leads her down a path of intrigue, mystery and danger.

The viewer’s choices will guide Mia through the adventure and will determine her fate, as well as that of the whole group. Throughout the game, your interactions could increase your knowledge around the identity of the mysterious woman, but the way Mia deals with the rest of the group will also have an impact, so each choice needs to be carefully considered.

Forum Thread: Mia and the Dragon Princess (by Wales Interactive)

Peridot (Free)

iTunes Description

Peridot fulfills your fantasy of bonding with a magical, brag-worthy creature that can fly through the air, always wants to be by your side, and might have a secret love for turkey sandwiches. With the power of AR, this pet simulation game places whimsical beings known as Peridots (“Dots" for short) in the real world with you. And with Peridot, playing with friends is better, simple as that. Meet up with your besties IRL to Hatch new Dots that will inherit the Traits of their parents, then snap a pic and share it with your friends!

Forum Thread: Peridot (by Niantic)

Poosh XL ($4.99)

iTunes Description

Poosh your way through the obstacles and see how far you can get in this one-touch arcade score chaser!

Just press the Poosh button when your power and angle is just how you want it but don’t wait too long or the floor will raise up and destroy you. Avoid hitting anything and survive as long as you can to make waves in the leaderboard.

Forum Thread: Poosh XL (by Adamvision)

The Super Spy ACA NEOGEO ($3.99)

iTunes Description

THE SUPER SPY is an action game released by SNK in 1990.
Punch, kick, and use guns to fight off terrorists as you make your way through the building to rescue their captives.
Defeating enemies earns experience, which can be used in a Role Playing Game-like feature to level up.

Forum Thread: The Super Spy ACA NEOGEO (by SNK)

TRANSFORMERS Forged to Fight (Free)

iTunes Description

Optimus Prime, Bumblebee and bots across the multiverse are in danger. Ready to build a team, shore up defenses and fight epic battles?

Join Optimus Prime, Megatron, Bumblebee, Waspinator, Rhinox, Grimlock, Soundwave and many more familiar bots in a battle for planetary supremacy. More than 30 years of Transformers history and storytelling comes together in this action-packed fighting RPG where timelines collide. Roll out!

Forum Thread: TRANSFORMERS Forged to Fight (by Kabam)

Turret vs Turret (Free)

iTunes Description

2 player retro artillery mini game!

One-button controls:
-Press and hold the button to lock barrel angle
-Release the button to lock force and shoot

Forum Thread: Turret vs Turret (by Otto Ojala)

Zoo Park Story ($5.99)

iTunes Description

Ready to build the zoo of your dreams? Depart on wild adventures to find exotic fauna, exploring all manner of environments from savanna to tundra, jungle and beyond! Give your new animal friends a home and take your zoo to the top of the industry!

Savor the thrill of opening day. Feed the animals in your burgeoning lineup—even give them the occasional treat to show you care! From apples to acorns, meat, and more, tailor your critters’ diet according to their natural habitat. On that note, do the same with the surrounding flora too!

Forum Thread: Zoo Park Story (by Kairosoft)

I Know It’s Still Early, But… ‘Super Fishbird’ is the Game of the Year

Jared Nelson — Wed, 10 May 2023 18:43:24 +0000

Ok, ok, not really. However, its trailer is certainly a contender for Trailer of the Year or perhaps Best Trailer of All Time, alongside such classics as 10 Balls 7 Cups, Retired Nude Men’s Beach Volleyball, or the menagerie of Mad Skills Motocross/BMX trailers over the years. Yes, Super Fishbird from developer Dan Forstinger is a fine and dandy game on its own, but wow does its trailer really seal the deal. The game itself is a super simple high score chaser where you control a tiny bird who is attempting to keep a fish that has flopped out of the water airborne for as long as possible. This is not easy because that fish is VERY floppy. Along the way you can collect score multipliers and perform various tricks with the fish, like flipping it around, having it stall on top of your head, and more. Ok, let’s roll that trailer, shall we?

Wow. Life-changing. The world of fish will never be the same. While the trailer definitely gives me a chuckle, don’t be fooled into thinking that’s all this is about. Super Fishbird is legitimately a really good high score chaser. The physics feel really good and the fish is so unpredictably floppy that you get into all sorts of situations that run the gamut of performing some type of seemingly impossible acrobatic trick or suddenly ending your game prematurely due to a horrible bounce. The game is free with ads and you can unlock the ad-free premium version for $5.99 which also includes a fancy hat for your bird. If you aren’t immediately sold at “fancy hat" then I’m not sure what to tell you. Joking aside though, this really is a game worth your time and at least for now Super Fishbird is my current go-to time killer.

‘Torchlight: Infinite’ Leaves Open Beta and Launches Globally on Mobile and PC Alongside Release of New Season “Cube of Rapacity”

Jared Nelson — Tue, 09 May 2023 19:18:20 +0000

With Torchlight Infinite’s various closed beta periods that stretched back years, as well as its status of being in “open beta" globally across mobile and PC platforms since last fall, it feels a little strange to be announcing the launch of a game that’s been available to basically everyone for literal years now. However, XD Network has been working diligently during the game’s different beta periods to take in player feedback and tweak and fix the game based on it, and that brings us to today when they are feeling comfortable enough with the state of Torchlight: Infinite to remove the open beta status and officially launch it into the wild. This is coinciding with the newest season of the game, titled Cube of Rapacity, which you can see some details of in the following trailer.

The Cube of Repacity season brings with it a new seasonal gameplay mechanic, where you’ll be able to earn crystals from defeated enemies which you can then spend with the titular cube for various types of rewards following the defeat of a boss. The season also introduces a new here named Escapist Bing as well as a TON of new balance changes, fixes, and tweaks to the overall experience. You can get a more detailed rundown of everything new in this latest version of Torchlight: Infinite over on the game’s blog. It’s a lot of stuff, folks. As of this writing the new update is available in the App Store, but the servers are still down for maintenance ahead of the new season launch. It’s scheduled to go live at 8:00 (UTC+8) on May 10th, which if I didn’t screw up my time zone math, should be 8pm ET here in the US.

‘Peridot’ and ‘Lost Words: Beyond the Page’ Are Both Rolling Out Globally Now

Jared Nelson — Mon, 08 May 2023 20:41:57 +0000

Our normal release round-up day is still a few days away, but with a couple of pretty high profile games both set to launch on May 9th it seemed worth giving a quick heads up to anyone who might be looking forward to them. First up is Niantic’s Peridot. This was first revealed in April of last year and described as a virtual pet style game but utilizing the AR technology that Niantic has become known for with hits like Pokemon GO. As the player you’ll raise your own Peridot, which is unique to you, but you can also pair up with other players and do a little cross-breeding in order to create new types of Peridots with interesting new traits or abilities. Here is the most recent trailer for Peridot which debuted when the release date was announced back in March.

Next up is Lost Words: Beyond the Page. This is a really unique adventure game that launched on PC and consoles a couple of years back, and is now making its way to mobile courtesy of Plug In Digital. In it you’ll explore a fantasy world and manipulate actual words to solve puzzles and unlock parts of the narrative, and this is combined with a more traditional side-scrolling adventure where you’ll do a little bit of platforming and puzzle solving. I’m certainly not doing the game justice, but as you can see in the trailer below this is definitely a gorgeous game that has garnered all sorts of attention and accolades with its launch on other platforms, and it looks like it will be a great fit for mobile.

With the way scheduled releases work in the App Store, both of these titles should be available right now in time zones where the calendar has already rolled over to May 9th. You can find Lost Worlds on the App Store here, and Peridot on the App Store here. We are based here in the US, and so neither of these are available right this minute, but should be available at 11pm ET roughly 6 hours from now. These are both games that are quite different from one another, but both are ones I’ve really been anxious to check out, so I’ll be counting down the minutes until later tonight. If you want to discuss either of these new titles you can do so in the Lost Words thread or the Peridot thread over in our forums.

Too Many Miyoo Minis – The TouchArcade Show #556

Jared Nelson — Sat, 06 May 2023 01:30:16 +0000

In this week’s episode of The TouchArcade Show we talk some more about the Miyoo Mini Plus since I finally broke Eli and convinced him to buy one through Amazon instead of waiting for the one he pre-ordered. Worth it! We also talk about our Orlando trip which will be all next week, and what kind of shenanigans we might get into. Expect some good stories during the next podcast which may or may not be next week. We also talk about some recent game releases like Star Wars: Jedi Survivor and Redfall, as well as our mega hype for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’s upcoming release. All that, and more! It’s jam-packed episode.

Stitcher: The TouchArcade Show via Stitcher Radio for Podcasts
RSS Feed: The TouchArcade Show
Direct Link: TouchArcadeShow-556.mp3

Show Notes:

TouchArcade Game of the Week: ‘Laya’s Horizon’

Jared Nelson — Sat, 06 May 2023 01:16:13 +0000

When you get a new game from developer Snowman, you can pretty much expect that it’s going to be an extremely stylish game. I mean Alto’s Adventure and Alto’s Odyssey speak for themselves, but throw in Skate City, Where Cards Fall, and Lucky Luna and, well, this is a studio places tremendous value on visuals and atmosphere. So when they started teasing their new game Laya’s Horizon, it was not shocking in the least that it was looking to be another beautiful game. No surprises there. What did come as a surprise now that Laya’s Horizon has launched on Netflix Games this week and I’ve actually gotten my hands on it is just how innovative this one is mechanically.

Laya’s Horizon is a game about flight. You play as the titular Laya who has just finished her flight schooling and received her very first cape, which allows her to fly through the air just like a wingsuit. The game features a large open world and after guiding you through a quick tutorial or two you’re pretty much set free to explore and accomplish missions as you see fit. Many of these are milestones you accomplish during flights, similar to the missions in the Alto games, and others are missions given to you by characters in the game. All of this contributes towards leveling up and unlocking new capes and trinkets which provide new benefits and abilities.

The core of Laya’s Horizon is the flying and it uses an extremely tricky but extremely gratifying control system. You’ll use two thumbs to mimic Laya’s arms and by raising or lowering them in various ways you can bank, drift, float, dive, and pretty much maneuver just like a bird. Like I said though, it’s tricky, and you’ll likely have some frustrating times coming to grips with this control system. I have certainly seen people turned off to it at first, but stick with it and before you know it you’ll be zipping around like it’s second nature, almost not even having to think of what your thumbs are doing, more just reacting naturally as you navigate the terrain.

It is overwhelmingly satisfying to get to that point, and controlling Laya in the game feels like a natural extension of yourself, if that makes any sense. I love it. The large open world and seemingly endless supply of things to do and accomplish mean that you’ll have fun just flying around but there’s also always some purpose to it, if you want, and always something new to explore or achieve. I’ve really only scratched the surface I think and I already can’t believe just how expansive this game is. If you’re a Netflix subscriber absolutely download and give Laya’s Horizon a try, but just keep in mind the learning curve and don’t be so quick to give up because the payoff is majorly rewarding.

Out Now: ‘Laya’s Horizon’, ‘LEGO Bricktales’, ‘Family Bash’, ‘Super Fishbird’, ‘Urban Cards’, ‘Dumb Ways to Die 4’, ‘Mouse Trap – The Board Game’ and More

Jared Nelson — Thu, 04 May 2023 03:48:35 +0000

Dumb Ways to Die 4 (Free)

iTunes Description

Dumb Ways to Die 4 delivers even more of what you love: exciting and challenging minigames, new areas to explore, all your favorite Beans to rescue – and much, much more!

Challenge your friends and family to see who can survive the longest and become the ultimate champion of Dumb Ways to Die!
Collect coins to purchase upgrades and unlock new areas and score sweet prizes as you try to survive! Are you Bean-enough for the job?

Forum Thread: Dumb Ways to Die 4 (by PlaySide Studios)

Family Bash (Free)

iTunes Description

Family Bash tells the timeless story of the Family – the one we love, cherish, insult and despise. You arrive in the village hall of a small French town out in the sticks in Normandy to celebrate your grandfather’s birthday: he’s 90 years old, still “all there” and is the living memory of your family. Just as the party is shaping up to be fun, you find yourself at the centre of an intergenerational conflict with unforeseeable consequences. You begin to uncover the dark secrets and ulterior motives of the various members of your family. In Family Bash, a seemingly insignificant choice can change the relationships between your family members forever. So explore your surroundings and make choices, talk to your cousins, confront your uncle and find out about that mysterious will – for better or for worse.

Forum Thread: Family Bash (by ARTE Experience)

Fran Bow ($9.99)

iTunes Description

After witnessing the gruesome deaths of her parents, a peculiar young girl named Fran is imprisoned in Oswald Asylum. To survive the asylum’s cruel experiments, Fran self-medicates, giving her the ability to see a sinister alternate world, the Ultrareality.

Follow Fran on her epic journey through the Ultrareality to uncover who killed her parents, reunite with her missing cat Mr. Midnight, and return home to Aunt Grace, her only living relative.

Forum Thread: Fran Bow (by Killmonday Games)

Jabberwordy ($4.99)

iTunes Description

JABBERWORDY is a fun word game where you unscramble tiles into words using tile colors that hint at proper placement. Super easy to learn. A must-have for anyone who loves word puzzle games! Word puzzles come in 40 different shapes & sizes! Play puzzles à la carte, or enjoy the PAR COURSE CHALLENGE released daily & weekly – a set of 9 or 18 puzzles presented as a group where you try to beat “PAR" for the course! Have competitions by sharing completed scorecards with your friends, or just relax and play by yourself. Great fun, and highly addictive!

Forum Thread: Jabberwordy (by Storm Turtle LLC)

Laya’s Horizon (Free)

iTunes Description

Master the art of flying. Dive off mountains, weave across forests and glide over rivers to unlock new abilities as you explore a vast, peaceful world.

Use the ancient power of the Windfolk’s enchanted capes to hone your skills, take on challenges and fly through obstacle courses that will make your heart soar. Explore an expansive island in this open-world adventure inspired by wingsuit flying.

Forum Thread: Laya’s Horizon (by Snowman)

LEGO Bricktales ($4.99)

iTunes Description

In LEGO® Bricktales, discover an innovative brick-by-brick building mechanic to design puzzle solutions from your own imagination. See your creations brought to life in a beautiful LEGO world where every problem has a constructive resolution.

Forum Thread: LEGO® Bricktales (by Thunderful Publishing AB)

Lovecraft’s Mythos Run (Free)

iTunes Description

Lovecraft’s Mythos Run is a free to play pixel art 2D action endless runner based on the Lovecraft’s Untold Stories roguelike. Get money, buy items and unlock characters.

LLC Blini Games have developed Lovecraft’s Mythos Run, an entertaining free to play 2D action endless runner with pixel art graphics based on their original and successful roguelike multiplatform game, Lovecraft’s Untold Stories, released in 2019 for PC, console and mobile platforms.

Forum Thread: Lovecraft’s Mythos Run (by Blini Games)

Mines of Moria ($0.99)

iTunes Description

You are tasked with slaying the Balrog deep within the Mines of Moria. A translation of Robert Alan Koeneke’s (1957-2022) Moria into a touchscreen first experience.

Choose one of six playable classes with a randomly selected race. New players are recommended to play as a Warrior.

Forum Thread: Mines of Moria (by Rufe.org LLC)

Mouse Trap – The Board Game ($3.99)

iTunes Description

Mouse Trap is back with a snap! It’s the chaotic board game you remember, on your mobile! Join your friends and race to collect the most cheese.

Are you ready? Welcome to the cheese board of your dreams. Choose your mouse, and your outfit, and GO! Strategise as you play. PICK-UP cheese, STEAL cheese, HOARD cheese, and WIN with the MOST cheese! When your friends get too bold, trigger the action contraption and watch the famous chain reaction unfold. Will it work? Hold your breath and feel the tension!

Forum Thread: Mouse Trap – The Board Game (by Marmalade Game Studio)

Super Fishbird (Free)

iTunes Description

Get ready to fly high and do crazy tricks with Super Fishbird! Take control of bird and keep your fishy friend out of water for as long as possible.

It’s not just about knocking around a fish though – it’s about doing it with style! Pull off flips, tail stalls, fin shakes, faceplants and other acrobatic maneuvers to earn points. Then, compare your best scores with friends and others around the world!

Forum Thread: Super Fishbird (by Dan Forstinger)

Urban Cards (Free)

iTunes Description

Urban Cards is a deck-building roguelike where earning money is the key to staying afloat in an unfair world. Build businesses, hire workaholic employees and thieves to steal from the competition. Create the perfect deck and work your way to the top!

This is a satire-themed game with 3+ factions and playstyles to choose from.

Forum Thread: Urban Cards (by Hues Games)

‘Pokemon Trading Card Game Live’ Launching Globally June 8th, Will Include New “Scarlet & Violet—Paldea Evolved” Expansion

Jared Nelson — Thu, 04 May 2023 00:00:48 +0000

Way back in September of 2021 The Pokemon Company announced their intentions of retiring the long-running and quite popular Pokemon TCG Online iPad app in favor of a completely revamped experience they called Pokemon TCG Live. With the original digital game being more than a decade old by that point it seemed like the time was right for a refresh, and it seemed like Pokemon TCG Live was poised to bring in a lot of new features while still maintaining the legacy of the physical card game that it was based on. It also helped that The Pokemon Company had built a way for players of the old game to transfer most of their key progress into the new game, as outlined here. Losing years of progress is not the best way to get a good start in a brand new game.

Early last year Pokemon TCG Live began soft-launching in select countries, and slowly rolled out into a full scale soft launch throughout the year. That means that many of us have already been playing this new game for quite some time now, which might make today’s news a little lackluster. The Pokemon Company is now ready to officially launch Pokemon TCG Live globally this coming June 8th, and on that day you’ll be able to play the brand new expansion Scarlet & Violet—Paldea Evolved in the game as well.

That’s not all, though. While typically new games will have pre-registration rewards for players leading up to a game’s launch, due to the weirdness of this being a game that’s already available to everybody, you can actually earn rewards for the global launch by simply logging into the game between today and June 6th. These rewards will be “special customization accessories, including a coin, card sleeves, and deck box" according to the press release.

This forthcoming official launch also means that time is up for Pokemon TCG Online, and that game will be removed from app stores on June 5th at 9am PDT, so start saying your goodbyes now and be sure to transfer your progress. Pokemon TCG Live can be downloaded on the iOS App Store, the Android Google Play Store, or on PC and Mac through the game’s website.

TouchArcade Game of the Week: ‘Peglin’

Jared Nelson — Sat, 29 Apr 2023 00:06:32 +0000

This is sort of a weird position to be in with a Game of the Week. I’m enjoying the heck out of this week’s pick and want to recommend it, but at the same time it has some issues that definitely stand out. Also weird, and possibly a first for this column, is that this week’s pick is technically still an Early Access release, which is common on PC but out of the ordinary on mobile. So in that context some of the issues I have with it can be forgiven, since this isn’t even the final finished version of this game. But at the same time, the world of mobile moves so fast are mobile players really going to wait around to see what the final finished version is all about, whenever that day comes?

The whole situation is… complicated, but forget all that because Peglin from Red Nexus Games is enough fun that I just don’t care. Peglin, in simplified terms, is what would happen if Peggle had a baby with a roguelike dungeon crawler, and it’s very much as awesome as that sounds on paper. The game has been in Early Access on PC for a year, and not too long ago some no-good rascal released an unauthorized mobile version on iOS. It was taken down eventually, but due to that incident and to the frequent requests from PC players, Red Nexus decided to focus on porting the Early Access PC version to mobile now rather than wait for the 1.0 release, and thus we have Peglin on iOS and Android this week.

So it’s pretty understandable that we’ve ended up with a not quite “finished" version of Peglin on mobile, and really it feels like the 0.9x version that’s here is a huge step in the right direction in moving towards that version 1.0 release. The core elemnents here are excellent. Levels are fun, battles are surprisingly strategic while still being extremely luck-based, the assortment of weapons and items is unique. All we really need is to see all that fleshed out and polished up a bit. More levels, more enemies, more classes, more weapons. Perhaps some more long-term unlocks or progression systems to keep us coming back, as well as some cool stat-tracking so we can compare and contrast runs with our friends. Stuff like that.

Shortly after the mobile release, for both PC and mobile versions of the game, an update with 2 new classes arrived–the Balladin and the Roundrel–as well as a new boss and a whole boatload of bug fixes. This is important because with that new framework implemented it should be much easier to add new classes down the line, and like I said it feels like going forward Peglin will improve and grow at a much quicker pace than before. However, in the meantime the game can definitely feel a bit one-note despite being a lot of fun. If you’re used to playing something like Vampire Survivors and being showered with unlocks and progressions loops this will feel a bit lacking in those departments.

That said, there is something rather pure about Peglin’s no nonsense “run-and-done" format, and as I keep reiterating, the gameplay itself is super fun. There’s a very strong “one more go" element here, and there are few things more satisfying than getting your butt whooped only to turn things around with some sort of miraculous ping-pong Hail Mary shot that somehow racks up enough damage to turn the tide of battle. Like I said, the core here is strong, but some minor tweaks and additions could really make this a full-blown showstopper. Peglin is free to try with a one-time IAP to unlock the rest of the game, and I definitely recommend at least checking out the free portion to see how you jive with this crazy mashup for yourself.

Out Now: ‘Peglin’, ‘Omega Strikers’, ‘Super Meat Boy Forever’, ‘Honkai: Star Rail’, ‘Roundguard’, ‘TRUDOGRAD’, ‘Black Book’, ‘The Centennial Case’, ‘War Mongrels’, ‘Subway Surfers Blast’, and More

Jared Nelson — Thu, 27 Apr 2023 01:37:29 +0000

Against War : Medieval (Free)

iTunes Description

You can use siege hammers, trebuchets, siege towers, and other siege weapons that suits your strategy to destroy the enemy’s castles.
You can also send soldiers to climb up the walls and take out the enemy commander.
Try out various strategies!

Forum Thread: Against War : Medieval (by Asobimo)

Black Book (Free)

iTunes Description

A fusion of card-based RPGs and Adventure games, “Black Book” is a haunting tale of a young sorceress, who gave her life to serve the dark forces. Dive into the cold, yet alluring world of Slavic folktales – and uncover the secrets that hide in the darkness.

Forum Thread: Black Book (Hypetrain Digital/Morteshka)

The Centennial Case ($19.99)

iTunes Description

The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story is a new unique mystery-adventure game.
Directed by Koichiro Ito (Metal Gear Solid V), and with Yasuhito Tachibana, producer of Netflix’s ‘The Naked Director’ serving as the Cinematographer and Scenario Director, beautiful yet thrilling live-action footage intertwines with mysteries to solve, creating highly immersive gameplay.

Forum Thread: The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story (by SQUARE ENIX)

Chess Cats (Free)

iTunes Description

Welcome to “Chess Cats" – the ultimate chess experience with cats! Go on a journey to rediscover the beauty of chess as you challenge our adorable cats, each with their own unique look and personality. Dive into a world of strategy and intellect, where you’ll not only improve your chess game but also make some furry friends along the way!

Forum Thread: Chess Cats (by Thomas Schranz)

Cuttlefish – Interactive Heist ($1.99)

iTunes Description

After a series of international heists, the infamous Cuttlefish returns to London to settle a personal score. Join Sammy on this family-friendly interactive heist game where every decision is guided by your touch!

From the creators of ‘Erica’, Cuttlefish is a full throttle interactive heist caper perfect for the whole family. Combining intense intricate interactions with a heartfelt branching narrative, Cuttlefish brings you directly into a story about family, survival and safety.

Forum Thread: Cuttlefish – Interactive Heist (by Flavourworks)

Farlight 84 (Free)

iTunes Description

Set in 2084, Farlight 84 takes players to an apocalyptic near-future world, where they’ll get to commandeer vehicles with deadly offensive capabilities; fly and dash around the battlefield with a one-of-a-kind Jetpack; and discover a roster of heroes bursting with personality and ultimate skills!

Forum Thread: Farlight 84 (by Farlight Games)

GnollHack (Free)

iTunes Description

Major roguelike reinvented.

A roguelike game based on NetHack.

Forum Thread: GnollHack (by Janne Gustafsson)

Honkai: Star Rail (Free)

iTunes Description

They call them, “Aeons" in this galaxy. They construct reality, erase stars, and leave their marks on countless worlds. Together with your companions you’ll travel across the galaxy on the Astral Express, following the path once traveled by the Aeons. From here, you will explore new civilizations, meet new comrades, and begin new adventures among countless fantastical worlds. All the answers you seek will be uncovered among the stars.

Forum Thread: Honkai: Star Rail (by Hoyoverse)

Make Codey… (Free)

iTunes Description

Step into the world of ‘Make Codey…’ and immerse yourself in a challenging text messaging game that will put your communication skills to the test. As you progress through the levels, Codey’s personality and demeanor will change, and you’ll need to adapt your approach to successfully complete the tasks.

Forum Thread: Make Codey… (by TKS Productions)

MineGeon: Space Mining Dungeon (Free)

iTunes Description

– Multiple layers to explore.
– Mining precious resources to progress your miner.
– Dozens of collectables.
– Safely store extra loot and resources at your base.

Forum Thread: MineGeon: Space Mining Dungeon (by KickStone Studio)

Minky ($0.99)

iTunes Description

MINKY is a classic platformer/ Jump & Run in retro look.
Help Minky on it’s journey through 28 varied Levels.
Collect all available coins and defeat different enemies to solve each stage.

Forum Thread: Minky (by Matthias Heydorn)

nanoLab Fighter (Free)

iTunes Description

A deadly virus is spreading rapidly, and it’s up to you to develop the ultimate cure before it’s too late. In this top-down arcade shooter game, you’ll take command of a nano drone and navigate through various missions to destroy virus cells and complete research tasks. With changing challenges across 14 levels and a captivating graphical story, your innovative approach will be the key to saving humanity.

Forum Thread: nanoLab Fighter (by Sergey Golovenko)

NFL Rivals (Free)

iTunes Description

Get ahead of the pack and be a part of one of the NFL’s biggest moves! Join the game now during Offseason to help shape the future of one of the hottest officially licensed NFL and NFLPA mobile games, and enjoy special 2023 NFL Draft Player Packs and themed in-game events. Unlock your favorite football pros, draft your star players, set your lineups, and gear up in your Squads. It’s time to get game-day ready – you’re about to be making major moves when NFL Rivals officially kicks off later this year!

Forum Thread: NFL Rivals (by Mythical Games)

Omega Strikers (Free)

iTunes Description

Blast, bounce, and bullrush opponents into hectic and electric map hazards. Sprint at breakneck speed on the Oni Village map and avoid a swirling gravity well on Atlas’s Lab.

Forum Thread: Omega Strikers (by Odyssey Interactive)

The Oregon Trail: Boom Town (Free)

iTunes Description

Get ready to experience life as a pioneer in this reimagining of the classic game, The Oregon Trail! A game that combines adventure, simulation, and settlement survival. Build, grow, craft and harvest as you turn the small frontier village, of Independence Missouri, into a thriving boom town!

Dysentery, Cholera, Typhoid and snakes – oh my! Help Settlers survive the dangerous journey west in this re-imagining of the classic game, The Oregon Trail!

Forum Thread: The Oregon Trail: Boom Town (by Tilting Point LLC)

Overbeast (Free)

iTunes Description

An enormous Overbeast has appeared in your state. Work with your neighbours to restore its habitat. As your Overbeast gets stronger, watch it battle rival states, rising through the ranks to become the ultimate overbeast.

Forum Thread: Overbeast (by Liquid City)

Peglin (Free)

iTunes Description

The dragons have been popping peglins and stealing all of your gold for as long as you can remember. Enough is enough. It’s time to venture through the woods, conquer the fortress, and delve into the heart of the dragon’s lair to take back what’s yours and teach those dragons a lesson.

Peglin plays like a combination of Peggle and Slay the Spire. The enemies are tough, and if you’re defeated your run is over, but you’ve got powerful orbs with special effects and incredible relics that influence both your enemies and the physics you’ll use to defeat them.

Forum Thread: Peglin (by Red Nexus Games)

Planet Defense: Environmental TD (Free)

iTunes Description

Use the power of the elements, your animal companions, and nature itself to fend off the ever-increasing number of encroaching humans. Give them something to think about when you unleash the powers of nature against them.
Play through a wide variety of tower-defense levels that will take you through the farthest reaches of our planet.

Forum Thread: Planet Defense: Environmental TD (by Sealguin Studios)

Roundguard ($6.99)

iTunes Description

Roundguard is a bouncy dungeon crawler with pinball physics, lots of loot, and a randomized castle full of oddballs. Highly-rated former Apple Arcade game and Mobile Game of the Year nominee!

If you love roguelikes & Peggle, then Roundguard is for you. Press your luck against hordes of dangerously cute monsters and challenging roguelike elements in this all-round bouncy adventure!

Forum Thread: Roundguard (by Wonderbelly Games)

Savage Reign ACA NEOGEO ($3.99)

iTunes Description

SAVAGE REIGN is a fighting game released by SNK in 1995.
In the first half of the 21st century, 10 great fighters have gathered to compete in King Lion’s Battle of the Beast-God!
Howling fists and flying weapons! A completely new style of fighting game.
Utilize the innovative 2 Line System to achieve victory in this vicious fight!

Forum Thread: Savage Reign ACA NEOGEO (by SNK)

Stellar Mercenaries (Free)

iTunes Description

Ready to vanquish your enemies and change the solar system forever from anywhere? Stellar Mercs is a vertical scrolling, offline capable, action arcade shooter with upgradable ships, weapons, and special abilities. Customize your loadouts for each mission depending on the environments and enemies you’ll face! Each mission will reward you with unlocks and cash to continue building your arsenal.

Forum Thread: Stellar Mercenaries (by Quest Builders)

Subway Surfers Blast (Free)

iTunes Description

Join the crew, discover hidden hangouts and decorate them to bring their stories to life.

Match, blast, and decorate with your favorite characters from the Subway Surfers universe! Solve the puzzles and unveil new wonders every day.

Forum Thread: Subway Surfers Blast (by Sybo Games)

Super Meat Boy Forever ($0.99)

iTunes Description

The challenge of Super Meat Boy returns in Super Meat Boy Forever. Levels are brutal, death is inevitable, and players will get that sweet feeling of accomplishment after beating a level. Players will run, jump, punch and kick their way through familiar settings and totally new worlds.

Forum Thread: Super Meat Boy Forever (by Team Meat & Thunderful Publishing)

Tap Dragon: Little Knight Luna (Free)

iTunes Description

An enchanting clicker RPG with dreamy illustrations.

Luna, the little knight, opened her eyes in the Slime Forest upon hearing a mysterious voice.
After a moment of pain, she grabbed her knife and got up again..

She needs to save her friends captured by the Dark Lord As!

Forum Thread: Tap Dragon: Little Knight Luna (Super Planet)

TRUDOGRAD ($9.99)

iTunes Description

Trudograd is a stand-alone story expansion to ATOM RPG – a turn-based roleplaying game set in post-apocalyptic Soviet Union. It is inspired by classic cRPG titles of the past, such as early Fallout, Wasteland and Baldur’s Gate series.

Forum Thread: TRUDOGRAD (from AtomTeam)

Vineyard Valley (Free)

iTunes Description

Restore a rundown vineyard to its former glory. Complete quests, solve puzzles and unlock past mysteries to design the romantic resort of your dreams.

Nestled in the hills of Vineyard Valley is a rustic resort called the Tangled Vines — it’s definitely seen better days. Transform and upgrade the vineyard back into a vibrant, swoon-worthy destination alongside a charming cast of characters in this builder. Get ready for barrels full of mystery, drama and romance along the way!

Forum Thread: Vineyard Valley (by Jam City)

War Mongrels ($39.99)

iTunes Description

War Mongrels, or WM, is an isometric real-time tactics game that takes place on the eastern front of World War II. This part of the war has been receiving less attention in gaming, even though it ended or changed a considerable number of lives and brought forward many stories of courage, comradery, but also further proof of twisted societies and the darkest parts of the human character.

Forum Thread: War Mongrels (by Destructive Creations)

‘Laya’s Horizon’ From ‘Alto’s Adventure’ Developer Snowman Gets Gorgeous New Trailer and May 2nd Release Date on Netflix Games

Jared Nelson — Wed, 26 Apr 2023 19:39:39 +0000

In the early part of last month Alto’s Adventure developer Snowman began teasing their newest project, a game called Laya’s Horizon. The teaser trailer looked and sounded incredible, but it also did that whole “teaser trailer thing" where it didn’t show any direct gameplay footage, so you were left kind of guessing what the actual game itself was all about. My best guess was that it was some sort of wingsuit flying game where you would dive off of cliffs and zoom down to the land below, hitting up obstacles and pulling off tricks along the way. In a way, almost like a 3rd-person Alto’s game. Well today Snowman has released the official trailer for Laya’s Horizon, and it looks like my guess was pretty on the mark.

Boy, that sure is a wonderful trailer. Gave me chills in fact. As mentioned previously, Laya’s Horizon is releasing in collaboration with Netflix and will be a part of the Netflix Games library. I tell ya, that Netflix Games library just keeps getting better and better and better. I used to say “It’s a nice bonus for already subscribing to Netflix for their shows" and now I’m quickly feeling more like “Subscribe for the games, and maybe watch some of their shows in the background while you’re playing." Anyway, Laya’s Horizon will be available for both iOS and Android devices on May 2nd for all Netflix subscribers, and I can’t hardly wait.

‘Underground Blossom’ is a New Rusty Lake Game and It’s Launching Later this Year

Jared Nelson — Tue, 25 Apr 2023 22:47:55 +0000

We haven’t heard from our pals at Rusty Lake since they released their unique multiplayer point-and-click game The Past Within last fall, but this week marks a big milestone for the small studio as they celebrate their 8th anniversary and with that they have officially announced their next new game. It’s called Underground Blossom and it focuses on a longtime character in the Cube Escape/Rusty Lake universe, Laura Vanderboom. The game takes place in the Rusty Lake Underground, a series of train stations where each stop is a new memory from Laura’s life. As the developer describes, “Solve various puzzles, find the correct metro to board and uncover one of Laura’s timelines, while simultaneously helping her make sense of her life and escape the corruption of her mind!" Here’s the trailer for Underground Blossom.

As part of their 8th anniversary celebration, Rusty Lake has also released a demo of Underground Blossom on Steam if you want to check out what the game is all about on PC ahead of its full launch later this year. In addition to that the celebration continues with sales on all of Rusty Lake’s premium titles across mobile and PC, where you can find discounts of up to 66% off. Finally, Rusty Lake has some surprise goodies and giveaways planned for this week of their anniversary, so be sure to tune into their social media channels to see what’s in store. You can find links to all of them over on their blog. I’m very interested in seeing more of the Rusty Lake universe fleshed out with Underground Blossom which sounds like it’ll be landing on PC and mobile towards late summer or early fall.

A Lifetime Supply of Gasoline – The TouchArcade Show #555

Jared Nelson — Sat, 22 Apr 2023 01:00:18 +0000

In this week’s episode of The TouchArcade Show we are uncommonly on topic with all sorts of mobile gaming discussion, including Pocket City 2, SEGA buying Rovio, Super Meat Boy Forever finally launching, and much more. Fans of off topic banter need not worry however, as we do fit in plenty of discussion about the new Miyoo Mini Plus, class action lawsuits, Ryan North’s How To Invent Everything: A Survival Guide for the Stranded Time Traveller, gasoline, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, and more.

Stitcher: The TouchArcade Show via Stitcher Radio for Podcasts
RSS Feed: The TouchArcade Show
Direct Link: TouchArcadeShow-555.mp3

Show Notes:

TouchArcade Game of the Week: ‘Super Meat Boy Forever’

Jared Nelson — Sat, 22 Apr 2023 00:40:30 +0000

Hoo boy, is there some baggage associated with this week’s pick. Super Meat Boy Forever from Team Meat has finally arrived on mobile after originally being announced as a mobile title way back in 2014. Or, in reality, this is what evolved from their Super Meat Boy: The Game game that was announced all the way back on April Fool’s Day in 2012. Either way this is a game that has been in the works for a VERY long time, and with the way that Team Meat has derided the App Store and mobile gaming over the past decade-plus, it was easy to feel like this was a game that would never actually see the light of day on mobile. That I am playing Super Meat Boy Forever on my iPhone right now feels like a small miracle for someone who has been following the entire saga since the very beginning.

So with all that I approached Super Meat Boy Forever from kind of a weird place. I had briefly played the game on Switch at PAX back in 2017, but other than that I never checked out the console and PC versions when they launched a couple of years ago. I hadn’t read any reviews or followed the game in any way. I was more or less coming into this one cold, other than the fact that I knew it was an auto-runner and it had been in various stages of development for more than a decade. It turns out that my ignorance was bliss, because Super Meat Boy Forever is shockingly good and it caught me very pleasantly by surprise.

Being that the original Super Meat Boy helped usher in the “masocore" platforming genre, it should not be a surprise that Super Meat Boy Forever is hard hard hard. You will die so so much, but you will respawn nearly instantly and just prior to the spot you perished, so it never feels too frustrating to have to replay a level over and over. Just kidding, it feels SUPER frustrating, but not because of the interface or the flow of the game, but because of the stupid hard level designs.

Those level designs are actually an interesting and polarizing part of Super Meat Boy Forever. The levels in the game are algorithmically generated using more than 7,000 smaller level chunks. Fans of the original game loved its finely-honed level designs that could be played over and over and perfected, and you certainly lose some of that here. Not necessarily in a bad way however, just different. The Super Meat Boy Forever level-chunk levels feel almost like puzzles that need to be solved with insane timing and reactions. It’s fun and certainly challenging but if you’re looking for more of what the first game offered then these might not do it for you.

Gosh, I could kind of go on and on about this one, there is SO much more to talk about, but I should probably leave something to be reviewed. Also this game is somehow just a dollar so honestly just buy it and try it out for yourself. Chances are pretty good you’ll be into it if you’re into super-difficult auto-runners. This is a genre that’s been so overdone on mobile there was a time when the thought of another auto-runner could make me physically ill, but instead Super Meat Boy Forever has arrived at a time when I’m ready for something like this again and I’ve been nothing but surprised and delighted by it so far.

Perhaps it’s fitting this game was announced over a decade ago because it almost feels like a game from that era, and in that sense I’m happy it took so long so I could be enjoying it now rather than having it be lost in the shuffle of similar games back during the genre’s heyday. In other words, it was actually well worth the wait.

‘Super Cat Tales: PAWS’ Releasing May 25th, iOS and Android Pre-Orders Available Now Alongside New Trailer

Jared Nelson — Thu, 20 Apr 2023 20:43:57 +0000

For my money there is no better mobile original platforming series than Super Cat Tales from developer Neutronized. The original Super Cat Tales launched all the way back in 2016 and offered a platforming experience built specifically for the touchscreen, with very unique controls that were tricky to wrap your head around at first but far superior than typical virtual buttons once you did. It also featured a cast of adorable characters and visuals that made the game feel like something Nintendo themselves would have released for the SNES back in the day. Oh, and in addition to all that, and most importantly of all, Super Cat Tales offered up extremely well-designed levels and platforming challenges. All of that would carry over to the sequel Super Cat Tales 2 in 2018, though somehow even bigger and better in every way. Fans such as myself had been hoping for a new Super Cat Tales entry ever since, and we were granted our wish when Super Cat Tales: PAWS was formally announced in April of last year. Now, just about a year later, and Super Cat Tales: PAWS finally has a firm release date, as announced in this fantastic new trailer.

As mentioned in the initial announcement last year, Super Cat Tales: PAWS is actually a prequel to Super Cat Tales 2, which itself was a prequel to the first Super Cat Tales. So you see, what we have here is a reverse chronological trilogy on our hands, which I think is rather unique. It’s also quite fun because the various characters in the Super Cat Tales games have become so beloved thanks to the surprisingly robust lore built into each game that it’s fun to see them in earlier parts of their lives or doing things that have been referenced already in the previous two games. In case you couldn’t tell I’m very excited for Super Cat Tales: PAWS. If you are too then feel free to pre-order the iOS version on the Apple App Store here or pre-register for the Android version on the Google Play Store here, and look forward to the game’s launch on May 25th.

Out Now: ‘Might Quest Rogue Palace’, ‘Paths – Beatrice’s Adventure’, ‘Paper Chasers’, ‘Riding Hero ACA NEOGEO’, ‘HP Lovecraft Trivia’, ‘Ball Avalanche’, ‘The Tale of Food’ and More

Jared Nelson — Thu, 20 Apr 2023 04:14:50 +0000

Ball Avalanche (Free)

iTunes Description

Help Torgui dodge the avalanche of balls heading towards him.

The challenge of the game is to last as long as possible dodging the balls without being hit by any or the game ends. So prepare your reflexes and your skills to be the best in the world dodging the avalanche of balls and get the best time of your game! Challenge your friends and compare the leaderboard to get the best score in the world.

Forum Thread: Ball Avalanche (by Zeonvia)

The Chicken Family (Free)

iTunes Description

Embark on an adventure with a daring and determined hen, as she sets out to rescue her chicks from treacherous cages. Use your wit and puzzle-solving skills to navigate through challenging levels filled with obstacles, traps, bridges, and more. Collect cookies, gems, and coins along the way, unlocking new levels, worlds, and customization options. Help the hen lead her chicks safely to the coop, but be careful not to fall off the platforms or get stopped by rolling barrels and sharp traps. With vibrant, cartoon-style graphics and exciting, fast-paced gameplay, this low poly 3D platformer puzzle game is a delightful experience that will keep you entertained for hours. So gather your courage, grab your key, and join the hen on her quest to save her chicks and become the ultimate chick hero.

Forum Thread: The Chicken Family (by Andrea Marchetti)

HP Lovecraft Trivia (Free)

iTunes Description

Introducing the ultimate trivia game for fans of the master of horror, H.P. Lovecraft! Immerse yourself in the eerie and unsettling world of Lovecraft’s cosmic horror with the Lovecraft Trivia Game. Test your knowledge of Lovecraft’s extensive literary universe, from the dark secrets of the Necronomicon to the enigmatic Cthulhu mythos and beyond.

Challenge yourself with a variety of intriguing questions and mind-bending puzzles, each designed to challenge even the most seasoned Lovecraft aficionado. Discover obscure details about the ancient and otherworldly beings that populate Lovecraft’s works, unravel the mysteries of the Great Old Ones, and delve into the twisted and haunting tales that have captivated readers for generations.

Forum Thread: HP Lovecraft Trivia (by Volkan Kutlubay)

Meta World: My City (Free)

iTunes Description

Meta World: My City is the latest evolution of a board game enjoyed by millions worldwide!
The infinite possibilities start here.
Play thrilling board games!
Grab land and construct landmarks that no one can take from you!

The city will be yours!

Forum Thread: Meta World: My City (by Netmarble)

Mighty Quest Rogue Palace (Free)

iTunes Description

Hunt for epic loot. Battle big bosses. Hack and slash through a mad maze, and prepare to die — a lot. Come back stronger, save the kingdom. No pressure!

The great Kingdom of Opulencia could really use a hero right now — or several. The King’s greed has led to The Void taking over the kingdom, and you’re the only one who can save it. Face crazy foes (goblins and banshees, oh my!) and prepare for action in this approachable, attention-grabbing roguelite.

Forum Thread: Mighty Quest Rogue Palace (by Ubisoft)

Paper Chaser’s ($7.99)

iTunes Description

Collaborate with Artists & Content Creators in this new Hip-Hop RPG game as you take your Record Label from the ground to the top! Sign Artists, Perform Shows, Expand your Businesses, & Discover New Ventures as You Explore our Open World. Then, after working hard all day in the studio, signing artist, and sculpting rising talent, enjoy the finer luxuries of life poolside at your mansion! Cruise around town in your Exotic Sports cars! Try your luck at the Casino! Or take a trip to places like the Mediterranean for inspiration and explore hidden gems along the way!

Forum Thread: Paper Chaser’s (by Diamond Standard Entertainment)

Paths – Beatrice’s Adventure ($3.99)

iTunes Description

Beatrice is a typical teenage girl gifted with an uncommon power that she is not aware to possess and whose main problems are handling relationships within her dysfunctional family and bringing out her true self.

The path the player takes will completely change Bea’s life. The player will, in fact, make decisions that drastically change the outcome of the story.

Every single choice, no matter how small, can have an impact on how the game unfolds.

Forum Thread: Paths – Beatrice’s Adventure (by FredBear Games)

Riding Hero ACA NEOGEO ($3.99)

iTunes Description

RIDING HERO is a realistic racing game released in 1990 by SNK.
WGP (World Grand Prix) mode is where you can compete against top riders of the world.
Story mode puts you in the shoes of a young street racer aiming to challenge an eight-hour endurance race and comes packed with RPG elements.
Experience realistic motorcycle action that will keep you at the edge of your seat.

Forum Thread: Riding Hero ACA NEOGEO (by SNK)

The Tale of Food (Free)

iTunes Description

Collect over 100 interactive characters personified by Chinese food and fight together as you embark on a new saga!

A Fantasy Adventure
Embark on a 2-million-word fantasy adventure as the descendant of the Food God. Collect and nurture Food Souls as you explore time and space! Interact with them closely and record every precious moment.

Forum Thread: The Tale of Food (by Madfun Game Limited)

TouchArcade Game of the Week: ‘Pocket City 2’

Jared Nelson — Fri, 14 Apr 2023 23:46:54 +0000

It’s hard to believe but we’re just a few months away from the 5-year anniversary of Codebrew Games aka developer Bobby Li launching the original Pocket City in the App Store. A full premium city-building sim is something that was severely lacking on mobile over the years, and that original Pocket City delivered the goods with a wonderful touchscreen interface, gorgeous visuals, and satisfying city building. And no micro-transactions in sight! There was a reason we chose it as our Game of the Week and awarded it 5 stars in our review when it came out, and since that time the original Pocket City is still pretty much the only serious option for those wanting a premium city builder on mobile.

Just because there’s no real competition in that space doesn’t mean that Codebrew have been resting on their laurels though. In the fall of 2020 a sequel was announced, and this time around the entire game would be built in 3D. I was excited by the announcement, but to be honest Pocket City 2 slipped from my mind in the time since, so I was especially taken off guard when a new trailer was released last month and revealed just what was in store for this 3D sequel. The isometric city-building of the first game was retained, but like a magic trick, at any moment you could zoom right into the city you were building to reveal a 3D open world mode where you as the Town Mayor could roam around partaking in activities or completing missions.

To say that this feature blew my mind would be an understatement. I’d been playing open world games for more than two decades, and playing city builders for closer to three, and it never occurred to me how awesome it would be to design and build your own city AND THEN actually explore the entire thing on foot or by vehicle. This is like a peanut butter and chocolate moment that was just begging to be explored, and so now we have that on mobile with the release of Pocket City 2 this week. I guess the big question is does this ability to roam your own city open world-style add anything to the experience, or is it just a pretty gimmick?

At the risk of teasing, I think I’ll let that question be answered by our pal Mikhail in his full review of Pocket City 2, coming to your eyeballs soon. What I will say though is that the open world feature can be as much of the game as you want it to be, meaning it’s totally possible to just ignore it altogether if you want and just play through Pocket City 2 like a normal isometric city builder. In fact that’s pretty much how I play about 80% of the time, mostly because there’s just so much to be building and managing and monitoring that I don’t really have time to think about “Oh I’m going to go shoot hoops at the park I just built!" or “Oh I’m going to go stop some random muggings on the street!" I love that those options are there, and I think once I get further into my city where it doesn’t need so much micromanaging I’ll probably explore them more.

For now though, Pocket City 2 is exactly what fans of the original game could hope for. It’s bigger and better in pretty much every way just on its city-building mechanics, with the extra open world stuff being like icing on the cake. This is maybe not the most in-depth city builder when it comes to strategy, but it makes up for it in sheer fun and approachability. You can still change between landscape or portrait on the fly, and Pocket City 2 retains that wonderful quality from the original where it’s easy to play for just a few moments at a time or for long stretches. A lot of sim games wouldn’t have that sort of pick up and play nature but it works perfectly for Pocket City 2 as a mobile game.

If you enjoyed the original, I think it’s a no-brainer to pick up this sequel. It seems so far to be better in every way. If you missed out on the first game, it’s safe to just skip it I think and dive right into Pocket City 2 instead. For a mere five dollars you are getting a lot of game here, and I suspect there will still be no real contenders to take its crown as the best premium mobile city builder until the inevitable Pocket City 3 comes along someday in the future. Also, for even more insight about Pocket City 2 and its development, be sure to check out our interview with Codebrew Games from earlier this week and keep your eye out for our review of the game soon.

Out Now: ‘Pocket City 2’, ‘Baldur’s Gate – Dark Alliance’, ‘Worms W.M.D: Mobilze’, ‘Neodori Forever’, ‘Teeny Dungeon’, ‘Monopoly GO!’, ‘Sentinels of Earth-Prime’, and More

Jared Nelson — Thu, 13 Apr 2023 04:22:03 +0000

Arcane Vale ($4.99)

iTunes Description

It’s up to you to complete your fathers legacy and discover a long lost treasure as you are thrust into a world full of discovery!

Explore a huge open-world full of deadly creatures and hidden secrets. Complete quests to win favor with the local inhabitants, in return, they may just help you on your journey.

Level up your skills and equipment to become stronger as you face ever more powerful and deadly foes.

Forum Thread: Arcane Vale (by Dynamic Zero)

Baldur’s Gate – Dark Alliance ($9.99)

iTunes Description

Experience the massively popular world of Baldur’s Gate as never before. Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance thrusts you into an epic Dungeons & Dragons adventure filled with intense action, intricate puzzles and sinister intrigue, where your mastery of cold steel and devastating spells is the only thing between you and ultimate evil.

Forum Thread: Baldur’s Gate – Dark Alliance (by Interplay)

Chief Emoji Officer ($2.99)

iTunes Description

Become Chief Emoji Officer using only emojis… without getting fired along the way.

You’re a new hire to Redify, a startup that loves changing the world! It’s up to you to turn the company around and climb to the executive level by making decisions for the company. Work with a variety of unique co-workers and respond to their messages to navigate corporate politics in this unique twist on a visual novel.

Forum Thread: Chief Emoji Officer (by Bodeville)

Don’t Byte Your Tongue (Free)

iTunes Description

Don’t Byte Your Tongue is a precision platformer that has a simple premise: Get to the top! The gameplay is easy to learn but hard to master, making it accessible to players of all skill levels. However, as you progress through the game, you’ll face increasingly difficult challenges that will test your skills to the limit.

Forum Thread: Don’t Byte Your Tongue (by Up Your Arcade Team)

Drifto (Free)

iTunes Description

Throw your car sideways into the corners and prove your drifting skills. Work your way up, unlocking new cars and locations.

The longer, faster, and more extreme your drift, the more you score. Careful though, crash and you lose it all!

Forum Thread: Drifto (by Jonathon Howe)

Honeycomb – Word Puzzle ($1.99)

iTunes Description

We made Honeycomb for vocabulary and puzzle lovers! This word game is for you if you want a relaxing game that will still make you think.

You need to form the right words using all of the letters to fill in the puzzle, but this can be quite tricky on a hexagonal grid! It’s satisfying to beat each level, and a cute bee will pop out to celebrate when you do.

Forum Thread: Honeycomb – Word Puzzle (by Spiralburst Studio)

Monopoly GO! (Free)

iTunes Description

Become rich beyond your wildest dreams in this newly reimagined version of one of the best-selling board games ever created: MONOPOLY! Let everyone’s favorite billionaire, MR. MONOPOLY, be your guide as you explore new boards themed after world-famous cities, fantastical lands, and more.

Experience the classic gameplay MONOPOLY fans love at a faster pace everyone can enjoy. Collect Property Tile Sets, build Houses and Hotels, pull Chance Cards, and of course, earn that MONOPOLY Money! Play with your favorite game Tokens such as the Scottie, the Top Hat, the Battleship and more.

Forum Thread: Monopoly GO! (by Scopely)

Moonleap ($8.99)

iTunes Description

Help our moon boy on his journey to recover shooting stars

Moonleap is a game about a moon boy on his journey to recover shooting stars. Change day to night with your jump and catch all the stars in this challenging puzzle-platformer!

Forum Thread: Moonleap (by Gustavo Colares)

Neodori Forever (Free)

iTunes Description

A colorful cast of rivals is waiting to race against you on a variety of vibrant environments. Collect power ups and coins on the way to expand your car collection and outrun the competition.

Simple Race: Race in each world zone to reach the end
Versus: Challenge different opponents to earn your spot in the top
Forever Mode: Explore all the world zones and ride at your pace in an endless ride, day and night

Randomly generated levels never play the same track twice!
25+ Unique Unlockable cars!
11+ Unique environments
Various racetrack levels for each environment
Day/Night cycle
Controller compatible

Forum Thread: Neodori Forever (by Crescent Moon Games)

Ninja Combat ACA NEOGEO ($3.99)

iTunes Description

NINJA COMBAT is an action game released in 1990 by SNK.
In order to defeat the evil ninja clan KAGE ICHIZOKU, justice-seeking ninjas head towards the NINJA TOWER.
Enjoy battling with a wide array of weapons and ninja magic as well as the ability for a friend to join the action.

Forum Thread: Ninja Combat ACA NEOGEO (by SNK)

Pocket City 2 ($4.99)

iTunes Description

Build and explore your own city in this 3D sequel to the original Pocket City! Create using roads, zones, landmarks, and special buildings. Drop your avatar into the world and roam freely. Buy your own house, host events, survive disasters, and live the life of a successful mayor!

No microtransactions or long wait times, everything is unlocked and rewarded through gameplay!

Forum Thread: Pocket City 2 (by Codebrew Games Inc)

Raging Bytes ($7.99)

iTunes Description

A story-driven zombie RPG full of drama and pixels! Survive the raging bytes!

A police officer, Ben, awakens in hospital after an accident to find the city overrun by zombies!
What in the world is going on here? Can the government be relied on? Do any other survivors remain?
Ben stumbles upon a doctor named Barbra while struggling through zombie-infested streets.
Together, they make their way to Ben’s police station, but only more horror awaits them.

Can you survive the raging b"y"tes of the zombies?

Forum Thread: Raging Bytes (by KEMCO/Hit-Point)

Rizline (Free)

iTunes Description

Rhythm connects!
Presenting Pigeon Games’ second enchanting music rhythm game, following the success of “Phigros"!
Dive into a mesmerizing journey where points and lines dance in harmony, weaving an extraordinary geometric tapestry set to the innermost beat of your heart!

Forum Thread: Rizline (by Pigeon Games)

Sentinels of Earth-Prime ($17.99)

iTunes Description

Sentinels of Earth-Prime is a cooperative card game that recreates the pulse-pounding action of superhero comics. Play as a team of heroes, using the rules of Sentinels of the Multiverse and the combined setting and characters of the critically acclaimed Mutants & Masterminds roleplaying game, to protect Earth-Prime!

The rules of the game are straightforward: Play a Card, Use a Power, and Draw a Card. What makes SoEP unique is that each card has special abilities that can create powerful combos or even change the rules of the game!

Sentinels of Earth-Prime is a standalone game, but it also fully cross-compatible with Sentinels of the Multiverse. If both games are installed on the same device, you can play with all owned content from within either game.

Forum Thread: Sentinels of Earth-Prime (by Handelabra Studios)

Snaileeyo Save Them ($6.99)

iTunes Description

A BIG adventure that fits in your pocket! Go with the heroic Snaileeyo and explore vibrant new worlds, solve challenging of obstacles, fight enemies and save your friends.

Slither across brilliant islands, haunting deserts, scorching volcanic mountains and crystal palaces. Enjoy intuitive controls, smooth HD graphics and original music. Gain special powers: fly, blast fireballs, lay decoys, and grow mega huge to topple your foes! Find all your friends and unlock the true ending.

Treat yourself to an unforgettable, fun-filled adventure!

Forum Thread: Snaileeyo Save Them (by Bezenyo! Games)

Tainted Treasure ($0.99)

iTunes Description

Reach the bottom of the tainted cave in this reaction-battle roguelike!
In order to uncover the mystery of the secret treasure, you have to reach the lowest level of the tainted cave.
But this will be no easy feat as there are countless corrupted enemies standing in your way.

Forum Thread: Tainted Treasure (by Marvin Wardius)

Teeny Dungeon (Free)

iTunes Description

traverse a teeny, yet infinite dungeon!
fight goblins and grab gold in the smallest rogue-like to ever exist!

Forum Thread: Teeny Dungeon (by Mauro Reyes)

VAREION ($2.99)

iTunes Description

An authentic and exhilarating hack-and-slash RPG with 8-bit graphics!
Become the legendary magic knight Vareion and defeat the 12 gods!

Enjoy a roguelike experience with randomly generated maps!
A variety of fearsome enemies will come at you!
Equip yourself with various weapons and armor to defeat the oncoming enemies!

Forum Thread: VAREION (by Dead Fish Eye)

Worms W.M.D: Mobilize ($5.99)

iTunes Description

The worms are back in their most destructive game yet. With a gorgeous, hand-drawn 2D look, brand new weapons, vehicles and buildings plus the return of some much-loved classic weapons and gameplay, Worms W.M.D: Mobilize is the best worms experience ever.

Work your way through 10 training and 20 campaign missions of increasing difficulty using the huge arsenal of new and classic weapons at your disposal. Use new vehicles to cause chaos amongst the enemy ranks and use buildings to gain the tactical advantage as you try to dominate the battlefield!

Take on opponents in hilarious all-out tactical worm warfare either in local or online multiplayer. Flatten your opponents with the Concrete Donkey. Turn them into chunks of worm meat with the Holy Hand Grenade. Rain down hell from above in helicopters or pound them into oblivion with the tank. With 50 weapons and utilities at your fingertips, this is Worms at its chaotic best!

Forum Thread: Worms W.M.D: Mobilize (by Team17)

Breaking Through a Hole in the Bathroom – The TouchArcade Show #554

Jared Nelson — Sat, 08 Apr 2023 04:00:01 +0000

In this week’s episode of The TouchArcade Show I talk about my sweet Coors Light Glassy sunglasses while Eli talks about his sweet $30 empty box that he bought. We then shift gears into the Caper of the Week where some enterprising individuals robbed an Apple Store by digging a hole through the wall of the bathroom in the coffee shop next door. Straight out of a movie! We also discuss Apple’s mythical VR/AR headset some more, read some listener email/comments, break the news of Baldur’s Gate Dark Alliance launching on iOS, and much more.

Stitcher: The TouchArcade Show via Stitcher Radio for Podcasts
RSS Feed: The TouchArcade Show
Direct Link: TouchArcadeShow-554.mp3

TouchArcade Game of the Week: ‘Generations’

Jared Nelson — Sat, 08 Apr 2023 03:09:05 +0000

We’re used to seeing games from other platforms make their way to mobile devices, be it from PC, or console, or of course other handhelds. However, I think this might mark the first time a Playdate game has made the jump to iOS. Scenic Route Software is no stranger to either platform, and they’ve had their hands all up in the Playdate cookie jar since pretty much the beginning. They first adapted their 2015 iOS puzzler Shift for the Playdate before going on and creating a number of the more enjoyable games on the platform, including the very well-received Generations. Now things are coming full circle as Secret Route has rejiggered Generations slightly and brought it to iOS.

I’m not going to lie: Generations is kind of tricky to describe. It’s probably most similar to something like Triple Town. You have a living room wall with a 6×3 grid, and one by one you’ll be given portraits of family members in various age groups. Place 3 or more of the same age group adjacent to each other and they’ll combine into a single portrait one age group higher. Continue this pattern until you finally age out the oldest age group, aka they die. Hey, it happens to all of us. Aging out gives you a huge bonus and ages up everyone on your board, and the game continues on until you’re unable to place any matches and the board fills up.

There’s also a “save" spot on the coffee table where you can place a portrait you don’t want to place on the board just yet, but you don’t want to park stuff on there for too long because bonus items and portraits can also appear there when it’s empty and those can come in handy big time. Another wrinkle to the mechanics is that you can only place portraits on “open" tiles on the grid, which are tiles adjacent to portraits you’ve already placed. Board management in games like this is already a major strategic factor and this just makes it so you have to be even more careful about where you place your pieces. Oh! I almost forgot the most important part about Generations: There is a cat named Poe that lives in the house and you can pet it.

I can honestly see why this was such a big hit on Playdate, and now that Generations is on iOS it has the potential to reach a much larger audience, which it totally deserves to do. I’m not kidding when I say I’ll hold this one up to the greats of the genre such as the aforementioned Triple Town or Threes! or High Rise – A Puzzle Cityscape. I think my only wish is that it played in portrait orientation as this would be a killer one-handed game. That aside, I can’t really find fault with Generations, and based on how quickly I’ve been firing up a new game once the previous one ends I think this is one of those puzzlers where it’ll feel like you’ll always have room to improve or find new strategies. All that for a fiver AND you get to pet the cat? What’s not to love?

WaterField Steam Deck Magnetic Gaming Case Review

Jared Nelson — Fri, 07 Apr 2023 20:43:52 +0000

The idea of third party Steam Deck cases is something that interests me because, as anyone who owns a Steam Deck knows, Valve includes a VERY GOOD protective case with every device already. Most tech devices don’t include any type of case, so if you want to provide that device some protection you have to pick up your own. With popular devices like smartphones and tablets there’s a nearly unlimited number of options to choose from, in practically any price point you’re comfortable with. With the Steam Deck already coming with its own VERY GOOD case there really needs to be a compelling reason to shell out extra for an alternative case. People do have different tastes though, and choice is always a good thing, and to be honest there are some things that bother me about Valve’s default Steam Deck case that had me considering looking into an alternative.

To celebrate the one year anniversary of the Steam Deck, San Francisco-based WaterField Designs released a new lineup of magnetic gaming cases for the Steam Deck as well as the Nintendo Switch, Analogue Pocket, and Playdate. We have long been fans of WaterField gear around TouchArcade Towers, and several years back we even reviewed their entire lineup of Nintendo Switch cases at the time. Their stuff is pricey but the quality is second to absolutely no one, and so the announcement of their new Steam Deck Magnetic Case was the perfect nudge I needed to finally try out something different after spending the past year with Valve’s included Steam Deck case. WaterField was generous enough to send me one for review and so here are my thoughts about it as compared to the original Valve case.

First off let me talk about the fit and finish of the WaterField case. This company is legendary when it comes to quality, and that hasn’t suddenly changed with their new Steam Deck case. The main front and back panels are full-grain leather, Chocolate leather on my model but also available in Black, Blue, and White leather options. Holding those panels together and creating the shape of the case is black ballistic nylon tops and sides. There is an additional option for Chocolate leather panels with waxed canvas exterior sides, and this is the mixture of materials that is kind of the “signature look" of WaterField’s stuff. Finally, for those who don’t really dig leather, there are options for entirely ballistic nylon or entirely waxed canvas cases, which are also a few bucks cheaper.

The interior of the case is a very soft plush lining with a bit of foam in between it and the exterior leather panels. All of the interior sewing is reinforced with thick piping (there’s that legendary quality I was talking about) which, in addition to giving it an extra beefy construction, adds a bit of padding to the exterior edges of the case. This is by no means a super shock-absorbing case, and while it may help protect your Deck from a drop compared to the device being naked I wouldn’t go counting on it or anything. The Valve case does feel like it would protect the Deck from a drop, and in fact that case almost feels bomb-proof, but it’s also about twice the thickness of the Waterfield case which is probably my main gripe with it. For how svelte the WaterField case is it does seem to offer good protection against the general wear and tear of toting your device around in it or packing it away in a larger bag. The interior also includes two pockets, one larger one along the backside that will fit the Deck’s charger and a slimmer pocket on the front side that would be perfect for SD cards or a polishing cloth.

The biggest standout feature of the Steam Deck Magnetic Gaming Case is of course its magnetic closure. I mean it’s right there in the name, you know? I have to say I was skeptical about how well a magnetic closure could keep my very expensive device safely enveloped in its case, but having tried it for myself I’m now a believer. The magnetism is strong, but not too strong to pull open with ease, and the way the two sides snap shut is incredibly satisfying. It’s fun in a way I didn’t think a zipper ever could be, which is not something I ever thought I’d be saying about opening and closing a gaming case. Its other main benefit is it allows you to charge the Steam Deck while it’s in the case since the magnetic edges allow the charging cable to stick through while still closing the two sides together.

The magnetic zipper only extends along the top and side of the case, which brings me to my first negative point about this product after heaping so much praise on it. I prefer a case that can fully open flat, as I use my Steam Deck around the house and keep it in its case unless it’s actually being used in my hands. If I get up and want to set the device down I like to have that open case there to rest it on, and maybe even just close the flap over without actually fully closing the case just in case, I don’t know, an errant toddler’s toy goes flying or something. With the WaterField case only opening on two sides it acts more as a sleeve, and while it’s by no means difficult to slip the Steam Deck in and out of, it’s still not something I’d do just to set my device down for a few moments. It’s not the case’s fault as this is how it was designed, but my personal preference is a case that can open on 3 sides.

That brings me to my second criticism. As mentioned the WaterField case is roughly half as thick as Valve’s case, and that also means it’s a tighter fit all around. The outside leather panels are reasonably stiff but aren’t a molded semi-hard shell like Valve’s and other manufacturer’s cases, so there’s a bit more give in the WaterField case. This isn’t really a huge deal but you will notice that the analog sticks can be clicked in from pushing on the outside of the case, and that just makes me feel… uncomfortable, I guess. Now, my Nintendo Switch Slim Case does exactly the same thing, and that thing has been all over the world with me and never damaged my device. In fact I bought that case alongside my launch day Switch and still use it to this day with my OLED Switch some 6 years later. I’ve never even had stick drift on either of my Switches!

In reality analog sticks are spec’d to be pressed in tens of thousands of times if not more, so I don’t think it’s actually putting my device in danger or anything, but I still would prefer if there was some form of molded piece on the inside front panel with recessed areas for those sticks to sit in. Also worth mentioning is that once I noticed this issue after putting my Deck in the Waterfield case, I got curious and grabbed my Valve case that does have the nice molded interior that perfectly fits the device, and lo and behold if you squeeze that case together you can also make the analog sticks click in. I think that unless you’re willing to rock a fully hard case made of plastic or metal this is going to be an issue.

Overall I still love the WaterField Steam Deck Magnetic Gaming Case despite those two issues I mentioned. The quality and style of this thing is unmatched, the magnetic closure is fun and functional, and the size is much more manageable than Valve’s beast of a case. However, I think the real question is if this will replace the Valve case for me, and the answer to that is complicated. If I’m just tossing my Deck in a lightly packed backpack to head over to a buddy’s house, then yeah WaterField all the way. If I’m traveling heavier and want to stick my Deck in a more tightly packed suitcase or something, especially if the extra space the larger case takes up isn’t such an issue, then I’d probably opt for the Valve case. It is in fact a sturdier case, as evidenced by its gigantic size.

That said, I don’t really take my Deck outside of the house all that often, and don’t really go on any big “need to pack a suitcase" trips, so that scenario isn’t super likely. The bigger question is how I use my Steam Deck day to day around the house, and for me the WaterField case is just what I was looking for. Is that worth $84-89 when every Steam Deck already comes with a great case? That’ll likely come down to you. While my review unit was provided for free, I likely was going to buy one of these anyway, and had I dropped the cash for one I can say now after having used it that I wouldn’t regret the decision. If this does sound like something up your alley you can order a Steam Deck Magnetic Gaming Case–or the versions for Switch/Switch Lite, Analogue Pocket, and Playdate–over on the WaterField Designs website.

Out Now: ‘Sid Meier’s Railroads!’, ‘Raji: An Ancient Epic’, ‘Unicycle Legend’, ‘Otto’s Tennis Game’, ‘A Pretty Odd Bunny’, ‘Generations’, ‘TOKYO DARK: Remembrance’, and More

Jared Nelson — Thu, 06 Apr 2023 05:41:51 +0000

A Pretty Odd Bunny ($2.99)

iTunes Description

A Pretty Odd Bunny is a 2D stealth platformer about a rabbit who likes eating pigs. You play as a red-eyed rabbit and help him reach the pig at the end of the levels without letting other rabbits see you!

Find the right path through the levels so your fellow bunnies don’t see you. They don’t approve of your food choices and will try to stop you if they see your intentions.

Walk, run and jump into a colorful but dangerous world full of beautiful graphics and smooth animations. Created frame by frame with love and passion.

Explore more than 80 levels in 4 unique worlds, collect hidden coins, unlock extra challenges with cute characters, gorey action, blood, and a lot of severed pig’s heads.

Forum Thread: A Pretty Odd Bunny (by Esteban Duran)

An Elmwood Trail (Free)

iTunes Description

Solve the biggest mystery in the town of Riverstone surrounded by the Elmwood Forest. Find the missing girl and prove yourself to everyone.

It’s been 3 weeks since a young teen has gone missing and despite the town’s police’s best efforts, they hit a dead end and declared the case of 18-year-old Zoey Leonard a runaway.

For all the interactive-mystery game fanatics. Develop your own trail to unravel the secrets of the town of Riverstone! This is YOUR chance to help a detective regain his legacy, save the life of a missing girl and uncover the orchestrator behind such a sick crime.

Forum Thread: An Elmwood Trail (by Sparsh Tyagi)

The Andromeda Mysteries (Free)

iTunes Description

Solve sci-fi mysteries with this AI-generated RPG. Interview folks to uncover their secrets! New characters and mystery every game!

Solve a mystery of a ring of spies, or a stolen alien artifacts. Play on an asteroid or at the edge of a black hole. This sci-fi whodunnit lets you chat naturally with AI-generated characters to discover the culprit of the mystery. Driven by ChatGPT, this mystery game gives you a new scenario and characters every time you play! Rank up as a detective to gain new characteristics of locations and suspects. Chat naturally with the characters as you hunt for clues. Even the artwork for each character is custom created by AI.

Forum Thread: The Andromeda Mysteries (by Cephalopod Studio)

Conclave: Dissension (Free)

iTunes Description

Defeat your opponents in the epic strategy card game Conclave by building a formidable army and leading it into battle. However, brute force isn’t the only path to victory – you can also support your Creatures with powerful spells such as Siren’s Song, which entrances your opponents’ units, or artifacts like Narrow Bridge, preventing your opponent from swarming you with many creatures at once. Every decision is crucial on your journey to victory. You will have to forgo some cards in order to gather the resources necessary to play your more powerful cards. Will you choose to overwhelm your opponents with raw strength, or outmaneuver them with clever use of spells and artifacts? The choice is yours in Conclave.

Forum Thread: Conclave: Dissension (by Samuel Arlig)

Everlife (Free)

iTunes Description

In this deep life simulator, create your own character and take them on a journey from birth to death. Swipe through life year-by-year and make difficult decisions, then watch the consequences unfold. Along the way, develop your personality, experience major milestones, navigate life’s ups and downs, and deal with unexpected drama.

How will you live your Everlife?

Forum Thread: Everlife (by Philip Kessler)

Fighting Chance ($0.49)

iTunes Description

Place towers, slide towers, combine towers, defend your treatment!

The Fighting Chance gamified client simulates every stage of your treatment, so you can take an active role in achieving a better you.

Our propritary simulated battlefield technology puts you in control. Place different types of towers, slide towers around the map, combine towers to unlock new abilities, and block monsters from advancing – to prolong your treatment as long as possible.

After all, its your health on the line but we can give you a Fighting Chance.

Forum Thread: Fighting Chance (by Sean MacDonnell)

Firefly: A Myth Nerds Journey ($2.99)

iTunes Description

Real time narrative journey into the cursed woods of the Bridgewater Triangle.

You joined Firefly Chat as a way to connect with new people. What you weren’t prepared for was a distress call from a mysterious person named Jamie.

With their car broken down and Firefly Chat being the only app on their phone that seems to still be working, Jamie’s life is now in your hands.

Forum Thread: Firefly: A Myth Nerds Journey (by Gray Matter LLC)

Generations ($4.99)

iTunes Description

The popular game for the Playdate handheld console, now on iOS! Experience what IGN called one of the ten best games for the Playdate, but now on your phone! And in color!

No ads! No in-app purchases! It won’t even harass you to rate it (Though it would be nice if you did)! Just a super fun, meditative puzzle game. Don’t forget to pet the cat!

Forum Thread: Generations (by Scenic Route Software)

Higan: Eruthyll (Free)

iTunes Description

Higan: Eruthyll is a 3D real-time combat RPG that brings fantasy to theater. Planet Eruthyll is where you can use diverse tactics with dynamic instructions and enjoy the touching stories presented by fantastic cutscenes.

Forum Thread: Higan: Eruthyll (by BILIBILI)

Otto’s Tennis Game (Free)

iTunes Description

One-button tennis for two players!

-Push the button to jump, spam the button to fly
-5 game modes: tennis, ping-pong, arcade, karate and random
-First to score 4 or more points with a 2 point advantage wins
-Hit with the center of your racket for a turbo shot
-Hone your skills against the bot player
-No ads, no in-app purchases, no data tracking

Forum Thread: Otto’s Tennis Game (by Otto Ojala)

Pam’s Fantastic Escape (Free)

iTunes Description

Are you up for a cozy escape-room puzzle adventure…in a dream-like world? Let’s go now!

Linn (that’s you!) is going camping with Pam (Pandora, your best buddy) and Tammy (Pam’s sister) for the weekend. The game starts from Pam’s garage, then moves on to a mountain cottage and more mysterious places.
In order to go on your adventure, you need to solve puzzles to find the way forward through multiple chapters!

Forum Thread: Pam’s Fantastic Escape (by Slimomo)

Raji: An Ancient Epic (Free)

iTunes Description

You’re chosen by the gods. Fight demons, climb ruins and face destiny to save the human race in this lush action-adventure inspired by Indian culture.

In this award-winning adventure game set in ancient India, a young girl named Raji has been chosen to stand against the demonic invasion of the human realm. Her destiny? To rescue her younger brother and face the demon lord Mahabalasura.

Forum Thread: Raji: An Ancient Epic (by Nodding Heads Games)

Sid Meier’s Railroads! ($12.99)

iTunes Description

Become history’s greatest rail baron in Sid Meier’s Railroads!, a classic of the tycoon genre now available for iPhone and iPad.

In this captivating mix of model train set and railway management simulator, lay tracks and optimise routes to establish lucrative networks of cities and industries, transporting passengers, raw materials and goods across continents.

Grow profits through efficiency, innovation, and shrewd business decisions as you acquire valuable patents, trade stocks, and build or buy industries. Compete with world leaders and industrial titans to achieve the ultimate goal — becoming the greatest railroad tycoon of the age!

Forum Thread: Sid Meier’s Railroads! (by Feral Interactive)

TOKYO DARK: Remembrance ($5.99)

iTunes Description

Detective Ito’s partner is missing, but what starts as a straightforward case soon spirals into a twisted nightmare that causes Ito to confront her past and question her own sanity. Your decisions and actions change Detective Ito’s state of mind, opening doors to different possibilities as you attempt to find your partner and understand the dark and horrifying world around you.

Play this popular point and click adventure game, now with intuitive new touch controls for smartphones and tablets.

Forum Thread: TOKYO DARK: Remembrance (by mebius / Cherrymochi)

Top Player’s Golf ACA NEOGEO ($3.99)

iTunes Description

TOP PLAYER’S GOLF is a sports game released in 1990 by SNK.
Three modes, STROKE PLAY, MATCH PLAY, and NASSAU GAME, are available along with two types of courses.
You’ll find yourself fully absorbed in this game’s immersive graphics and strategic skill planning.

Forum Thread: Top Player’s Golf ACA NEOGEO (by SNK)

Unicycle Legend (Free)

iTunes Description

Show the world your legendariousness by conquering all 120 unique, obstacle-filled levels.
– Conquer obstacles, bombs, springs, traps, chasms, and umm, spiders.
– Some levels are easy.
– Most levels are hard.
– Become a legend.

Forum Thread: Unicycle Legend (by Unept)

WordSpiral ($0.99)

iTunes Description

It’s you against WordSpiral for the highest score. Find words by selecting neighboring letters and click on the last letter twice to accept the word. If valid, watch the word disappear a letter at a time and shrink the spiral down. Try to remove the entire spiral. Then reset the board and ask the AI to solve the same game to compare your scores.

Forum Thread: WordSpiral (by Wireless Marvels)

‘Fireball Wizard’ is a Magical Pixel Art Platformer Coming this Summer, Available for Pre-Order Now

Jared Nelson — Wed, 05 Apr 2023 17:46:33 +0000

Sometimes all I want in life is a straightforward action platformer. Not something that redefines the genre as we know it, just something to test my running, jumping, and fighting skills. Maybe something with a bunch of secrets to discover along the way. Two-person studio ginTronic is creating something just like that with their upcoming title Fireball Wizard, and in conjunction with Plug in Digital Games they’ll be bringing that title to iOS, Android, and Steam in the coming weeks. Fireball Wizard, as its name implies, does indeed star a wizard who is very capable of shooting fireballs as he embarks on a journey across 40+ levels and 4 distinct worlds. There’s plenty of tricky obstacles and lots of dastardly enemies to dispatch during that journey, as well as more than 40 secrets to discover and 9 different skins to trick out your wizard with. You can see it in action in the game’s latest trailer.

See what I mean? Fireball Wizard looks like a very straightforward and fun platforming experience, and I love that the PR for the game describes it as a “friendly platform game." This just looks like a game I want to play. It’s also been in the works for a bit since ginTronic is such a tiny team, and it’s fun to contrast this latest trailer with the game’s debut trailer from a bit over a year ago. This game has definitely made some strides in that time. Currently Fireball Wizard is available for Wishlisting on Steam for PC, available for pre-order on the App Store for iOS, and available for pre-registration on the Google Play Store for Android. Its expected release date on iOS is listed as June 20th but those can sometimes just be placeholder dates so keep an eye out for Fireball Wizard at some point between now and this coming June.

Rest in Peace E3… Again – The TouchArcade Show #553

Jared Nelson — Sat, 01 Apr 2023 05:30:47 +0000

In this week’s episode of The TouchArcade Show we talk about the death (again) of E3 after it looked poised to bounce back after a rough few years. Is it possible it could rise from the ashes yet again and take place next year? We don’t think so! We also talk about WWDC and the potential of Apple’s long-rumored mixed reality headset thingy. I then expand a bit more on the WaterField Steam Deck Magnetic Case as I’ve been using it for about a week now, and compare it to a much cheaper Tombert case I picked up on Amazon. Expect a written review of the WaterField case next week. We also quickly touch on the Hot Wheels: Rift Rally that went on sale today, which I’ll also be reviewing shortly. Busy week!

Stitcher: The TouchArcade Show via Stitcher Radio for Podcasts
RSS Feed: The TouchArcade Show
Direct Link: TouchArcadeShow-553.mp3

Show Notes:

TouchArcade Game of the Week: ‘Brotato’

Jared Nelson — Sat, 01 Apr 2023 05:09:21 +0000

For the bulk of 2022, we endured what I called the era of Vampire Survivors-likes. The game that became a mega-sensation on PC in January of last year spawned all sorts of similar experiences on mobile. Some of them very good, some of them just so-so, but all of them very much cut from the same cloth as Vampire Survivors. Then in December, the real-deal Vampire Survivors launched on mobile and from that point on it seemed sort of pointless to bother with any of the VS-likes that came along.

And at first blush you might think that about Brotato. “Oh, another one of THOSE" I can hear you mutter under your breath. Yes, they might look very similar and in some ways they are, but Brotato is very much its own thing distinct from Vampire Survivors, and it’s also very much worth your time if you enjoy roguelikes and completely over the top mayhem.

Brotato is indeed a top-down shooter/melee survival game where you’re fighting against wave after wave of enemies that get increasingly more difficult the longer you go. There is a bit of persistent progression and quite a few things to unlock, but the entire game isn’t centered around the meta progression in the same way VS is. This is more of a pure roguelike shooter that forces you to make strategic choices about which weaponry and items you’ll be equipping in between rounds to try and take on the more difficult enemies ahead.

This is extra fun in Brotato in particular because you can equip 6 weapons at once, and it’s a blast to pair together the various long range, short range, melee, and other weapon types and turn your little spud into a whirling dervish of absolute destruction. Very, very satisfying.

On that topic, the action in Brotato is especially action-y. Arenas are tight quarters as opposed to the sprawling levels in that other game I keep mentioning. Enemies move fast and when things really get going it gives me vibes of some of the best top-down and twin-stick shooters that use to grace mobile way back in the day. I’m specifically thinking of the stuff Radiangames has put out, as the screen when playing Brotato also tends to get littered with enemies, bullets, and pickups across practically every inch of the screen just as Radiangames’s partical-laden shooters did. This game becomes a glorious mess and I absolutely love it.

I know it’s easy to write this one off as yet another Vampire Survivors clone, but I can assure you that’s not the case. Brotato is in fact a very different type of action game, while still having very similar core elements. You may prefer the more methodical play and long-term carrots on sticks of VS or you may prefer the white knuckle insanity of Brotato, or if you’re like me you love both flavors in their own way and are extremely happy to have both on a device that fits in your pocket.

‘Hot Wheels: Rift Rally’ is Mixed Reality Racing for iOS Devices from the Makers of ‘Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit’

Jared Nelson — Fri, 31 Mar 2023 18:22:48 +0000

Back in 2020 Nintendo in partnership with Velan Studios released Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit, a mixed reality racing game for Nintendo Switch. The basic concept is that the game came with a physical kart that was equipped with a camera, and you would control that kart and see what its camera sees via your Nintendo Switch. The game came with 4 special gates that the kart’s camera could recognize so you were able to place the gates around your house or wherever in order to create your own race courses. Being that you viewed all the action through the Switch’s screen, all sorts of stuff could be overlaid on the video being delivered from the kart’s camera, like other racers, special items, and more, blending a true Mario Kart experience with the real life world around you.

Mario Kart Live was a pretty huge success, and now Velan has brought their patented RC mixed reality technology to another major partner in Mattel to produce Hot Wheels: Rift Rally, a similar mixed reality racing experience that utilizes the toy brand’s iconic miniature car line. Most of what I just described about Mario Kart Live holds true in Hot Wheels: Rift Rally–the camera-equipped vehicle, the gates for course creation, the blending of virtual images and real-world footage captured from the car–but rather than needing a Nintendo Switch to play you can play Hot Wheels: Rift Rally via an iOS device or a PlayStation 4 or PlayStation 5. I know there’s A LOT of people in the world who own a Switch, but still this should make an experience like this more accessible to even more people.

As you might expect, Velan has really leaned into being able to harvest from the legendary lineup of Hot Wheels vehicles. As such the physical vehicle that comes with the game is codenamed the Chameleon, and that’s because it’ll be able to transform into more than 140 different Hot Wheels vehicles from across its 50+ year history, as well as some new original vehicles exclusive to Hot Wheels: Rift Rally. In addition to the gate-placement circuit racing you can do, Rift Rally includes an extensive Stunt Mode where you can string together all types of cool moves like drifts, wheelies, burnouts, and more to shoot for high scores and unlock rewards.

Hot Wheels: Rift Rally is available starting today in GameStop stores or online through the Rift Rally website. The Standard Edition is $129.99 and comes with a white Chameleon vehicle, 4 gates, and a charging cable. There’s also a special Collector’s Edition for $149.99 that comes with a sweet black Chameleon vehicle, 4 gates, charging cable, and an exclusive die-cast McLaren Senna Hot Wheels that is also unlockable for your vehicle in-game. Velan and Mattel were generous enough to provide us with a review unit of the Standard Edition, so look forward to more in-depth thoughts about Hot Wheels: Rift Rally from us in the coming days. In the meantime you can also discuss this with our community in our forums.

Out Now: ‘Brotato’, ‘Slime Labs 3’, ‘Terra Nil’, ‘Call of Dragons’, ‘Voice of Cards Trilogy’, and More

Jared Nelson — Thu, 30 Mar 2023 03:16:09 +0000

Baseball Stars Professional ACA NEOGEO ($3.99)

iTunes Description

BASEBALL STARS PROFESSIONAL is a sports game released in 1990 by SNK.
One of the launch titles as the NEOGEO debuted, it came with both a VS Mode and Tournament Mode.
The dynamic animation and powerful productions made for an exciting game.

Forum Thread: Baseball Stars Professional ACA NEOGEO (by SNK)

Brotato ($4.99)

iTunes Description

A top-down arena shooter roguelite where you play a potato wielding up to 6 weapons at a time to fight off hordes of aliens. Choose from a variety of traits and items to create unique builds and survive until help arrives.

The sole survivor: Brotato, the only potato capable of handling 6 weapons at the same time. Waiting to be rescued by his mates, Brotato must survive in this hostile environment.

Forum Thread: Brotato (by Erabit Studios)

Call of Dragons (Free)

iTunes Description

New game by the RoK Team! Capture behemoths to fight. Use hero skills with allies. Deploy flying units over 3D terrain. Huge wars. Huge choices. Your journey starts here!

Call of Dragons is an MMO fantasy conquest game from the creators of Rise of Kingdoms, offering an incredible strategic combat experience:

Forum Thread: Call of Dragons (by Farlight Games)

Null Matter ($1.99)

iTunes Description

Experience the soothing challenge of Null Matter, an abstract puzzle game that tests your logic skills. Your goal is to eliminate all particles from the scene by merging matter and antimatter particles. With 50 levels to complete and an infinite game mode, you can enjoy hours of gameplay. Use multiple types of elements to change the properties of the particles and solve the puzzle. The game features a dark and bright theme that can be inverted, along with simple and easy controls.

Forum Thread: Null Matter (by Carlos Saoud)

Slime Labs 3 (Free)

iTunes Description

Slime is marooned on planet Freezia and needs your help! Explore a frozen lab with slippery ice and new dangerous traps. Slime Labs 3 is a physics based platformer where you control a blob of green ooze that can squish, stretch, shrink, and get frozen. Perfect all the levels while collecting all the lost data disks.

Forum Thread: Slime Labs 3 (by Neutronized)

Terra Nil (Free)

iTunes Description

Revitalize a barren wasteland. Plant sprawling forests, purify soil and clean polluted oceans to turn a ravaged environment into an ecological paradise.

Transform a lifeless landscape into a thriving, vibrant ecosystem. Turn dead soil into fertile grassland and create the ideal habitat for animals to call home. Then recycle your buildings and leave no trace that you were there.

Forum Thread: Terra Nil (by Free Lives / 24bit / Netflix)

Voice of Cards: The Beasts of Burden ($12.99)

iTunes Description

In this world, there are creatures known as monsters. Humans have long been in conflict with these beasts.

One day, a secure underground village is destroyed by monsters, and a girl loses her home.

A young boy appears before her amid the chaos and takes her hand, leading her above ground for the first time.

Having lost everything, the girl sets out on a journey with the boy, where she learns about the world and goes on to obtain something precious…

Forum Thread: Voice of Cards: The Beasts of Burden (by Square Enix)

Voice of Cards: The Forsaken Maiden ($12.99)

iTunes Description

Spirits dwell upon an archipelago surrounded by sparkling seas.

It is on these islands that maidens, guarded by their attendants, perform a vital ritual. The spirits have helped them keep the islands safe since time immemorial.

Yet one of these isles lacks a maiden, and can do nothing but await its ruination…

A young seafarer, searching for a way to save his home, meets a mysterious maiden who has lost both her powers and her voice.

Guided by a self-proclaimed spirit, they set sail to see the isles and hear their tales.

Forum Thread: Voice of Cards: The Forsaken Maiden (by Square Enix)

Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars ($12.99)

iTunes Description

Long, long ago, the people lived in peace. But then the Dragon appeared, sowing terror throughout the land.

Valiantly, the kingdom fought, claiming narrow victory. Grievously wounded, the Dragon fled.

Thenceafter, the years passed, and people again knew peace. Until the Dragon returned.

Now the queen gathers adventurers to slay the Dragon…

Forum Thread: Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars (by Square Enix)

WinterCraft: Forest Survival (Free)

iTunes Description

WinterCraft is a survival game set in a winter forest where you will face dangers in a vast free world. Get resources, set up a camp, hunt wild animals and explore snow-covered forests! Every day in winter survival can be the last day on earth!

Many adventures await you: story quests, survival in the forest, exploration, hunting, gathering and crafting. You will have to learn a lot to survive: get food, melt snow, hunt animals and keep a fire!

Forum Thread: WinterCraft: Forest Survival (by Dmitry Ognev)

“Age of Falling Towers” Major Update Arrives for ‘Diablo Immortal’ this Thursday

Jared Nelson — Tue, 28 Mar 2023 23:00:00 +0000

Well we’re about 9 months out from the launch of Diablo Immortal in June of last year, and at the time of its launch I was pretty heavily into the game for the first month or so. Then I just sort of churned out and haven’t really been keeping tabs on it since. I guess I assumed others did the same, so when the trailer for the game’s new expansion crossed my desk I thought to myself “Oh neat, what is this the 3rd or 4th update to the game? It’s probably been a while since the last update right, like 6 months or something?" WOW I couldn’t have been more wrong about that! Perusing the news section on the Diablo Immortal website revealed to me that there have been a constant flow of updates, both big and small, adding in all sorts of great new features and new content to play through over these past 9 months. My bad for not keeping this one in my rotation!

Of course if you are one of the apparently many players who have been enjoying Diablo Immortal all this time, you probably are already aware of its impending Age of Falling Towers major update. The tentpole feature in this update is the new Accursed Towers clan-based game mode which features both PvE and PvP gameplay for you and your clan. You can see this new game mode as well as many more new features in the following Age of Falling Towers trailer.

In addition to Accursed Towers, this update will include a brand new campaign dungeon, a new Elite Quest, new limited time events, new gear, obligatory bug fixes, and more. And like I mentioned before, the team behind Diablo Immortal has been adding this type of new content at a constant clip since the game’s launch, so if you are an early player who churned out like me then it might be worth re-downloading the game to see what sort of stuff you’ve been missing. At least that’s what I plan on doing. I’ll also point out how amusing it is to me that when Diablo Immortal was first announced it received a legendary amount of hate from the Diablo fanbase, who really just wanted to hear about Diablo IV and not some silly phone game. Now fast forward several years after that point and Diablo IV is in active beta and all I’m hearing is people hating on that and commenting about how much more fun Diablo Immortal is to play. Oh how the turn tables!

Anyhoo, expect server maintenance March 29th from 5pm-7pm PDT for Oceania, China, East Asia, Southeast Asia, and Europe Servers, and on March 30th from 1am-3am PDT for servers in the Americas as the Age of Falling Towers update is activated in the game, after which point all the new goodness will be ready to be enjoyed by both continuing and lapsed Diablo Immortal players.

Recapping All the Best Drama – The TouchArcade Show #552

Jared Nelson — Sat, 25 Mar 2023 02:32:02 +0000

In this week’s episode of The TouchArcade Show we recap all the big drama of the week, because drama=clicks baby! I also talk about the new WaterField Magnetic Gaming Case for the Steam Deck, which just arrived in my hot little hands a couple of days ago. We also divulge the details of our upcoming corporate retreat in Orlando, which Eli has somehow fanagled his way into despite no longer being an employee of TouchArcade. I guess podcast co-host is close enough! We then do the unthinkable and talk about actual on-topic mobile gaming news stories.

Stitcher: The TouchArcade Show via Stitcher Radio for Podcasts
RSS Feed: The TouchArcade Show
Direct Link: TouchArcadeShow-552.mp3

Show Notes:

TouchArcade Game of the Week: ‘Well Word’

Jared Nelson — Sat, 25 Mar 2023 00:10:12 +0000

We were already big fans of developer BJ Malicoat, who does business under the name Bird Cartel, due to the release of Pine Tar Poker late last year. Poker is one of those games that kind of is what it is, so it’s always very hard to come up with some sort of creative twist on a game with mechanics that have been honed for decades upon decades or more. In the case of Pine Tar Poker it was just a few tweaks of those established mechanics, a few liberties with officially recognized hands, a dash or two of otherworldly phenomenon, and a very dedicated Old Western theme to make something that truly stood out from the bajillions of poker games ever released. It earned our Game of the Week when it released.

You know what else is a very established game type that’s hard to mess around with? Word games! Specifically word search games. That fact has not deterred the Bird Cartel from meddling around with the beloved genre to create something that feels genuinely unique with the just released Well Word. The basics here are that you start out with a 5×5 board of letters and from that selection of 25 letters you want to try to make as many 4-letter or more words out of them as you can. The catch is that all letters except the one in the center can only be used 3 times, meaning your stock of usable letters dwindles the more words that you make.

That right there is a compelling twist and Well Word probably could have just stopped there, but there are a few other wrinkles that really take this one to the next level. Unsurprisingly, the longer the word you make the more points it is worth, and multipliers kick in for 7+ letter words. You also get a bonus for incorporating the center letter if you can, and additional points if your word uses letters that are all adjacent to each other. Finally you’ll earn bonus points for clearing entire rows or columns of letters off the board, with a huge bonus for those savvy enough to clear the whole board.

Well Word also takes a page out of the Wordle playbook as it features a unique grid of letters each day, and everyone plays the same grid. So if you get your friends and family into the game you can all brag to each other about how good you did on each day’s level. If you spring for the premium unlock you’ll get a couple more modes. Lightning is the daily puzzle but with a 2 minute time limit, and Challenges are randomly generated games that you can play as many times as you want. Each Challenge game also has its own seed so you can share or replay particular puzzles.

Speaking of replaying, the premium unlock also gives you a detailed History mode where you can look back at each Daily or Lightning puzzle you’ve played, see detailed stats from each game, and even go back to play previously missed games. Well Word just launched but due to it being in testing for some months the daily puzzle is actually on #98 as of today, but through the History mode you can go back and play all those previous games that you missed if you didn’t happen to be beta testing the game since day one. Last but not least the premium version also includes a number of lovely color themes to choose from.

Everything is just so well thought out, and that brings me to my final praise about Well Word and that is the incredible level of polish in its UI and presentation. The way each letter’s background color “empties" a third of the way after using it in a word to indicate how many more times you’re able to use that letter is just so simple and easy to understand at a glance, it’s the kind of detail you can’t really appreciate until you’ve seen other games try do convey that sort of information in overly complex and cluttered ways. This feels like a Zach Gage game, and I don’t think I could come up with any greater praise than that. So enough gushing, Well Word is free so just try it for yourself, and if you’re like me you’ll make a space for it right next to Wordle on your homescreen.

Out Now: ‘Mighty DOOM’, ‘Down in Bermuda’, ‘Poor Bunny!’, ‘Well Word’, ‘Yeager: Hunter Legend’, ‘Last Kids on Earth’, ‘Rumble Heroes’, and More

Jared Nelson — Thu, 23 Mar 2023 03:44:27 +0000

Armored Heroes (Free)

iTunes Description

World War II is one of the most significant events in the history of human kind. Thousands of heroes fought these battles with aircrafts, ships, as infantry or with tanks. We remember them to this day on different ways with memorials, statues, maquettes or with dioramas. As children we often Imagined that these monuments come alive and we could play them. Inspired by such a diorama, in Armored Heroes we commemorate the most important tank battles of World War II.

Forum Thread: Armored Heroes (by 1Der Entertainment)

Down in Bermuda ($5.99)

iTunes Description

An unnatural storm leaves an adventurous aviator stranded for decades within the infamous Bermuda. Overcome creatures of the deep and unravel the islands secrets in search for a way back home.

Down in Bermuda is a quirky adventure filled with puzzles to solve and mysteries to uncover. Our adventurous aviator Milton finds himself trapped in a time bubble deep inside the Bermuda and needs your help to escape.

Crack codes, solve puzzles, collect magic orbs and escape each of the six unique islands, each one leading to the next on a quest for a way back home.

Forum Thread: Down in Bermuda (by Yak & Co)

EA SPORTS MLB Tap Baseball 23 (Free)

iTunes Description

MLB Baseball comes to your phone with the EA SPORTS MLB Tap Baseball mobile game. Manage a dream team of real MLB players from the most current rosters and travel to authentic ball parks. Play nine innings of gripping baseball action and power up your team to help your club rank at the top of the leaderboard! Tap to swing and hit a home run with simple controls – but keep your eye on the ball! Three strikes and you’re OUT!

Forum Thread: EA SPORTS MLB Tap Baseball 23 (by Electronic Arts)

EXIT – Trial of the Griffin ($5.99)

iTunes Description

The second Escape Room experience from the exciting game series EXIT – The Game takes you back to the year 1837 to the legendary Greifenstein Castle.

The Countess herself has invited you to assist her as an expert. Neither the bumpy carriage ride through the misty woods nor the warnings of the locals can deter you. However, what is the truth behind the rumors that the Countess has not been seen for decades and that ghosts haunt the stone halls of Greifenstein?

Forum Thread: EXIT – Trial of the Griffin (by United Soft Media)

Last Kids On Earth ($4.99)

iTunes Description

In this rogue-like card game, assemble the perfect deck for tag-team combat in this cuckoo bananas post-apocalyptic world. Each character has their own unique strengths and weaknesses. Abandoned foster kid and monster-slaying tough guy survivor Jack is great at teamwork and fights harder when his health is down. June is an expert at kicking zombie butt as she is adept at seeing monster intentions and evading attacks. Super-rad scientist Quint can choose his gear on the fly and is exceptional at using buffs and debuffs, while former bully Dirk is a super-strong monster-battling tornado who can shield anyone in combat.

Forum Thread: Last Kids On Earth (by Smart Technologies)

Mighty DOOM (Free)

iTunes Description

Shoot through mini demon hordes in Mighty DOOM. This single-touch, top-down shooter set in the animated DOOM universe puts you at the center of the fight as you rip and tear through demon hordes from the fiery depths of Hell.

Descend into mini versions of iconic DOOM worlds in this arcade action, top down shooter. Blast your way through hundreds of exciting levels and become mighty. Battle challenging bosses as you level up, gain powerful skills, loot new gear, and upgrade legendary guns.

Forum Thread: Mighty DOOM (by Alpha Dog / Bethesda)

Mini Tennis: Clash & Smash (Free)

iTunes Description

Pick your racket and choose your ball. Get ready to go onto the court in this brand-new tennis game! Experience tennis like never before in this fresh and easy-to-play game. In Mini Tennis, you can enjoy a casual gameplay experience that still remains loyal to the original game. It’s time for you to get a standing ovation from the crowd in the arenas and courts, score some amazing points, and build the strongest tennis legend that ever existed!

Forum Thread: Mini Tennis: Clash & Smash (by Miniclip.com)

The MisAdventures of Xenos ($2.99)

iTunes Description

Welcome to “The MisAdventures of Xenos," a hilarious parody of classic fantasy RPGs! In this turn-based adventure, you play as Princess Fayne, who sets out to rescue her hero, Xenos, after he is kidnapped by one of the Demon Lord’s underlings. With Fayne as the protagonist, this game turns the typical hero-rescues-princess trope on its head and gives players a fresh and entertaining perspective.

Forum Thread: The MisAdventures of Xenos (by Zesty Fernandez)

Poor Bunny! (Free)

iTunes Description

Poor Bunny! Is a cute high score chaser where you control a little bunny who must eat all the tasty carrots while avoiding rapidly appearing traps. How long can you survive before you get overwhelmed? Unlock and play as over 100 unique bunnies!

Play solo in single-player mode, or play with a friend in local multiplayer! Work together in Co-Op mode, or compete who eats the most carrots in Versus mode!

Forum Thread: Poor Bunny! (by Adventure Islands)

Rumble Heroes : Adventure RPG (Free)

iTunes Description

The sole princess of the kingdom was kidnapped by the dark knights! Your heroes are the only hope.

In order to save the princess, you need to start with reconstructing the village. Collect trees, mine ore, and construct buildings to improve the village.

Furthermore, you can recruit new heroes at the pub. Recruit and raise legendary heroes that use various skills!

Forum Thread: Rumble Heroes : Adventure RPG (by PLAYHARD)

Stakes Winner ACA NEOGEO ($3.99)

iTunes Description

STAKES WINNER is a realistic jockey action game released in 1995 by SNK.
Use skills such as showing the whip,
formation split and hyper dash, collect items on the course, and power-up your beloved horse in this multifaceted game.
Ride with your horse through a variety of races as you aim to conquer the GI.

Forum Thread: Stakes Winner ACA NEOGEO (by SNK)

Starborne: Frontiers (Free)

iTunes Description

On the edge of colonized space, far from the familiar worlds of Earth and Mars, something has gone horribly right. A black void of twisted space known as the Abyss has opened without warning. It’s unlike anything the galaxy has ever seen, and everyone wants a piece. Step into the Commander’s chair to take your shot at the prize, in a sci-fi gacha RPG that will pit your tactical skills against the galaxy’s best…and its worst.

Forum Thread: Starborne: Frontiers (by Solid Cloud Games)

Water 2050 ($3.99)

iTunes Description

Water 2050 is a 2D isometric city management game where players become the Mayor of the last surviving city in a world ravaged by environmental negligence. With heavily contaminated water, it´s up to players to implement real-world technologies and practices to reduce pollution and build a sustainable future. Facing challenges such as natural disasters, contaminated areas, and difficult choices, players get to travel through time to help shape a better tomorrow.

Forum Thread: Water 2050 (by Totem Games)

Well Word (Free)

iTunes Description

Welcome to Well Word!

Every day you’ll get a board of 25 letters. Your goal? Make the best words you can to get the highest score you can! Be careful though, each letter can only be used 3 times. Ok fine, you can use the center letter as much as you want.

Forum Thread: Well Word (by BJ Malicoat)

Yeager: Hunter Legend (Free)

iTunes Description

Yeager is a 3D action role-playing monster hunting game set in an alien world.

You take on the role of Yeager, an elite Vyderan hunter sent to retrieve a priceless stolen relic. Your mission will take you around the mysterious Planet Ekors, a world of deadly creatures and dark secrets. Hunt ferocious beasts and encounter alien civilizations as you uncover the hidden secrets of the Vyderan clan—and the Empire itself.

Forum Thread: Yeager: Hunter Legend (by IGG.COM)

‘Unicycle Legend’ is a Dangerous Platformer Sequel to ‘Unicycle Hero’, Launching April 5th

Jared Nelson — Wed, 22 Mar 2023 00:00:12 +0000

We’ve enjoyed all the games put out by indie developer Unept over the years, but the pinnacle of greatness in that admittedly small library would have to be Unicycle Hero which launched in early 2018. The basic premise of the game was that you competed in a variety of track and field style events, spanning pretty typical ones like javelin throw to more absurd ones like competitive table flipping, but the catch was that you competed in each event while riding a unicycle. This made basic movement needlessly difficult and made for some very hilarious situations as you tried to wibble wobble your way through a full series of athletic events on one wheel. It was a very entertaining game! Now, some five years later and Unept is gracing us with a sequel titled Unicycle Legend. Rather than more traditional sporting events, Unicycle Legend offers up something more akin to hazard platforming as you can see in the following trailer.

Unicycle Legend will feature 120 challenging levels and numerous costumes to deck out your unicycle hero in. It seems like a neat spin on the original game which was more or less just high score chasing across its different events, and this seems more like a platforming game but with a unicycle. I do see the silly announcers have returned though to offer their thoughts and snark on this latest one-wheeled adventure. Unicycle Legend is scheduled for release on April 5th on iOS, and you can pre-order it on the App Store here, but if you’re on Android this bad boy is available right now on the Google Play Store. Also if you’re a fan of previous Unept releases including the original Unicycle Hero, Level With Me, Lava Bird, and Hue Ball you’ll be happy to know they’ve all been updated for modern devices so if you haven’t checked in on them in a while now would be a great time to do that.

Paying Too Much for Cable – The TouchArcade Show #551

Jared Nelson — Sat, 18 Mar 2023 01:30:13 +0000

In this week’s episode of The TouchArcade Show we talk about the new Playdate on-device app store called Catalog, and that leads to a discussion on game pricing in general and the current state of devalued software. We then dip into some talk about cord-cutting, which I recently helped my parents do, and how the state of streaming services is starting to feel like it’s just turning right back into the cable services we were all so anxious to get rid of. We then talk about the Steam Deck’s first anniversary, WaterField’s lovely new gaming cases, the 3DS eShop closure, and the current buzz around smartphone photography and the tricks that it pulls.

Stitcher: The TouchArcade Show via Stitcher Radio for Podcasts
RSS Feed: The TouchArcade Show
Direct Link: TouchArcadeShow-551.mp3

Show Notes:

TouchArcade Game of the Week: ‘How We Know We’re Alive’

Jared Nelson — Sat, 18 Mar 2023 00:59:40 +0000

I’d say in general I’m more about action and arcade style games and not too much into thought-provoking narrative experiences, but every once in a while one of those critically acclaimed story games will work its way in front of my eyeballs and hit me in a way that no other game can. No other form of media can, really. How We Know We’re Alive from Motvind Studios is one of those games that knocked me for a loop. It launched on PC a couple of years ago and you can still play that version for a pay-what-you-want price, even free. Now it is making its way to additional platforms including mobile and Steam as a paid game.

In the story you play as Sara who returns to her tiny Swedish hometown of Härunga to pay respects to her estranged best friend Maria, who died the year prior. As can be common with tiny towns Härunga is very set in its ways and very… let’s say not exactly progressive. As teenagers Sara and Maria dreamed about getting out of this small town and its closed mind, and planned to go to Stockholm and live the big city lifestyle. Except before they could do that Maria got pregnant and, well, everything changed. Sara moved to the big city and Maria stayed behind to raise a family.

Exactly a year prior to your return Maria dies in a tragic car accident, but you can’t shake the feeling that something about the accident just isn’t right. You spend your time in Härunga, a place you haven’t visited in more than 10 years, talking to old acquaintances and trying to find out more about Maria’s life after you left and what really led to her tragic death. You will meet a number of interesting characters on your journey to unravel this mystery and the story itself had me hooked from within the first few minutes.

How We Know We’re Alive says right up front that it’s only around an hour long, and gameplay-wise it plays like an extremely basic point-and-click adventure. Actually, that’s probably giving it too much credit. This is really a story with some very light interaction, and as someone who doesn’t normally like that sort of thing I’m surprised by how much I couldn’t put this one down. The writing is excellent and it doesn’t hurt that the visuals and soundtrack are great too. This is a story that will hit you hard though, so make sure you’re in the right headspace to experience something like that first. But if impactful interactive stories are up your alley, How We Know We’re Alive is one that will stick with you long after it’s over.

WaterField Unveils Stylish New Magnetic Gaming Cases for Steam Deck, Nintendo Switch, Playdate, and Analogue Pocket

Jared Nelson — Thu, 16 Mar 2023 22:31:32 +0000

I have long been a fan of WaterField Designs, makers of extremely well-made and stylish gear and travel bags. They specialize in using full-grain leather and their bags are hand-made in their shop in San Francisco right here in the good old US of A. It is rare nowadays to find products made entirely in the US, and WaterField’s reputation for quality-made bags that will last several lifetimes is the stuff of legends. The entire TouchArcade staff over the years has all owned at least one WaterField product at one time or another, and so we can personally attest that this stuff, while not inexpensive by any means, is certainly worth every penny. That probably sounds like some sort of paid promotion or something, but I can assure you it’s not. Those who have experienced WaterField products will easily find themselves turning into salespeople for their gear simply due to how darn good it really is.

Anyway, several years back WaterField started making cases for handheld gaming systems, and these tended to range from simple pouches to stick your console in to give it some light protection and carry ability, to full-blown cases to carry your console plus any possible accessory you may own and keep it all incredibly well-protected. Back in 2017 we actually took a look at their entire line of Nintendo Switch cases at that time. Now WaterField is launching an entirely new line of gaming cases called the Magnetic Gaming Case Collection, and since there is a case for all platforms that we cover or have covered here on TouchArcade we thought our readers might be interested in seeing what these new cases are all about. Here is the full lineup of new cases for Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, Playdate, and Analogue Pocket along with their accompanying promo videos.

Nintendo Switch

Steam Deck

Playdate

Analogue Pocket

As you can see from the videos, and as the name of the line implies, the big feature in each of these cases is their magnetic closures as opposed to the regular zippers you’d normally see on gear cases. If you’re anything like me your first thought was “You want me to put my super expensive gaming hardware inside something that closes with just magnets!?" I’m definitely a bit skeptical, but as the saying goes the proof is in the pudding and WaterField will be sending me one of these Steam Deck magnetic cases so I can see for myself. Expect a review in the coming weeks. That said, this isn’t WaterField’s first rodeo, and they’ve been selling magnetic sleeves for laptops for some time now. Generally speaking a laptop is even more expensive than these gaming handhelds are and I haven’t heard any complaints about people having their laptops fly willy nilly out of one of those sleeves. These guys know what they’re doing.

If you like WaterField products already and like the look of any of these new cases you can pre-order any of them right now on WaterField’s website with an estimated ship date of March 24th. Being that these are hand-made it can take several weeks or more before another batch of inventory is available once one sells through, so if you’re the type that has to have one on day one pre-ordering now is your best bet. If you’d rather wait to hear my own thoughts about the Steam Deck version I will hopefully have a review unit in hand soon and you can expect a review to follow in the coming weeks.

Out Now: ‘Delete After Reading’, ‘Highwater’, ‘Settlement Survival’, ‘Ace Racer’, ‘How We Know We’re Alive’, ‘Left Turn Legend’, ‘Production Chain Tycoon’ and More

Jared Nelson — Thu, 16 Mar 2023 03:39:26 +0000

Ace Racer (Free)

iTunes Description

Ace Racer is a racing mobile game introducing innovative vehicles with ultimate skills. Experience various actual cars from legendary vehicle manufacturers like Porsche and Nissan, along with our own custom creations. Each vehicle has its own ultimate skills. So, what are you waiting for? Start your engines and experience our own spin on vehicle ultimates along stunning race tracks! Let’s race with ultimate skills to feel ultimate thrills.

Forum Thread: Ace Racer (by Netease)

Alienated 2 (Free)

iTunes Description

Alienated 2 is a unique survival top-down shooter with RPG elements. Battle countless waves of infected and complete multiple diverse mission objectives. Hunt elite monsters for rare guns and loot. Face monstrous zombie bosses and receive epic and unique loot drops. Complete item sets, upgrade equipment and distribute stats to create countless builds. In this top down shooter, you will face never-ending hordes of walking dead and the only option for survival is to kill them all.

Forum Thread: Alienated 2 – Zombie Survival (by Rince)

Break Ultimate (Free)

iTunes Description

Make the bounce count. Break ultimate is unique brick breaker style game, where you knock out the color blocks and collect the dead blocks. There are mixture of power-ups that will increase, shoot, add extra balls, zap blocks and many more to help complete the levels. There are also power-ups that will slow down the paddle/Balls, shrink paddle, gravity, invert paddle directions and many more try to avoid those.

Forum Thread: Break Ultimate (by Pratap Rai)

Car Detailing Simulator 2023 (Free)

iTunes Description

Car Detailing Simulator is a virtual game where you can become an expert detailer in your own garage. Choose from one of 30 different car models, and clean it from top to bottom. Polish the bumpers, wash the bodywork, wax the paintwork – it’s all there!

Forum Thread: Car Detailing Simulator 2023 (by Digital Melody)

Delete After Reading (Free)

iTunes Description

A book you can play, or a game you can read, Delete After Reading is a crafted combination of an adventure story and puzzle games about cheating your destiny. An original storytelling format for armchair detectives and escape room aficionados of all ages.

Forum Thread: Delete After Reading (by Patrones y Escondites)

Highwater (Free)

iTunes Description

Amid a great climate catastrophe, the flooded region of Hightower has become a kind of safe zone between the two dry regions: the nearly entirely ravaged land of the War Zone, and the fortified city of Alphaville, where the obscenely wealthy live behind giant walls. Rumors that the rich are escaping to Mars abound. Travel a submerged world by boat as a humble survivor — pick up friends, battle insurgents and steal food — all while fighting to find out if the rumors are true. Can you make it onto the rocket in this atmospheric, story-driven adventure?

Forum Thread: Highwater (by Rogue Games & Netflix)

How We Know We’re Alive ($2.99)

iTunes Description

HOW WE KNOW WE’RE ALIVE is an award winning, hour long melancholy, narrative mystery set in the bible belt of Sweden.

Lovingly crafted and richly animated, explore the melancholy atmosphere of a small town that time seemingly forgot. Meet old friends and enemies and piece together the mystery of what happened after your friendship tragically fell apart. As in life, what you say will impact things in hidden ways and not everything may be as it seems. Who is telling whose truth and can you know the difference?

Forum Thread: How We Know We’re Alive (by Motvind Studios)

Left Turn Legend (Free)

iTunes Description

Think you’re the best at turning left? The historic world of oval circuit racing awaits you in Left Turn Legend. Collect legendary stock cars from the past and present, including trucks, muscle cars, and open wheelers. Compete in the asphalt and dirt, or go rogue and drive the wrong way around the track! American stock car racing needs its next big star, and it could be you.

Forum Thread: Left Turn Legend (by Raymond Lin)

Production Chain Tycoon (Free)

iTunes Description

Welcome to Production Chain Tycoon, the idle simulation game that puts you in the role of a CEO managing your industrial empire. In this game, you must use strategy and careful management skills to optimize your supply chain, increase production efficiency, and become the ultimate tycoon.

Forum Thread: Production Chain Tycoon (by Robert Grzybek)

Settlement Survival ($4.99)

iTunes Description

Settlement Survival is a survival city-builder with a focus on management and production. Lead your people as they reclaim land, sow crops, hunt beasts, gather resources, construct buildings, trade valuable resources, and expand their homes. Their success is the key to your settlement’s prosperity.

Forum Thread: Settlement Survival (by X.D. Network)

SudoQi (Free)

iTunes Description

Solve puzzles and train your brain with this free and colorful mini Sudoku game!

SudoQi is a fun and challenging Sudoku puzzle game that will test your logic and puzzle-solving skills. With Sudoku puzzles of all levels of difficulty, from beginner to expert, there is something for everyone.

Forum Thread: SudoQi – Sudoku Brainly Games (by Logan Devillard)

Vlobs ($1.99)

iTunes Description

Relaxing connect’n’pop puzzle game

Vlobs is a relaxing casual puzzle game where you build groups of colorful blobs (vlobs) that connect to each other in specific ways. Figure out the mechanics and see how far you can go before you fill up the board. Get far enough and you’ll encounter new mechanics, mysterious powers and maybe even unlock a second game mode.

Forum Thread: Vlobs (by Lost Minds)

Window Wiggle (Free)

iTunes Description

Finally a simple and addictive skill based game, that will challenge you in a charming way!

Hold the buttons to move the car window up or down.
Overcome the obstacles and bring home your stuff!

Forum Thread: Window Wiggle (by Tim & Kevin)

‘Soccer Physics’ Returns to the App Store Nearly Six Years After Being Delisted, Now Free and Updated for Modern Devices

Jared Nelson — Wed, 15 Mar 2023 23:25:41 +0000

Nearly a decade ago Finnish developer Otto Ojala released Soccer Physics on the App Store, an extremely silly take on soccer using an extremely dodgy physics engine. The result was something hilarious and enjoyable as you’d watch your little players awkwardly and stiffly hop and flail around trying to get a little round ball into the opponent’s goal. It was scientifically proven to be impossible to not be smiling while playing Soccer Physics, and while maybe not the first it was certainly one of the forefathers of the “wacky physics sports game" genre. We loved it in our review from 2014.

Well, Soccer Physics was a big hit, but for whatever reasons Ojala grew tired of the iOS game development world and decided to take all his projects off the App Store when his developer license expired in May of 2017. Soccer Physics did live on in the form of a very slick WebGL version that was (and still is) playable in-browser over on Otto’s website. However, after being adamant against ever returning to the App Store, at some point Otto had a change of heart and after doing some serious fixing-up Soccer Physics is now available again on iOS and updated for modern devices. It’s also entirely free with no ads or anything.

It’s not hard to see why someone would be turned off to iOS game development. Even now, with the legit game back on the App Store, a search for “Soccer Physics" returns page after page of clones, many of which are filled with scummy monetization or tracking junk. It’s also hard to make a living selling iOS games since people never seem to want to spend money on anything, even though Soccer Physics was only ever a dollar or two and provided extreme amounts of joy every time you fired it up, especially when playing same-device multiplayer with a friend. It’s criminal it didn’t make Otto a gazillionaire.

It’s unclear if more older games from Otto will be returning, but it does seem like some new projects are on the horizon, and it appears that for right now the monetization method for Soccer Physics and any future games is they’ll just be free with an option to support Otto by throwing some money at him over on his Ko-fi. You can also follow Otto on Mastodon for updates on future projects, and personally I’m just happy to see such a unique and creative voice in game development coming back to a platform that I love so much, despite its many MANY flaws.

TouchArcade Game of the Week: ‘Cyber Protocol’

Jared Nelson — Sat, 11 Mar 2023 01:20:25 +0000

I always struggle to properly name the genre of action puzzler where you swipe your character in one of the 4 cardinal directions and they’ll move in that direction until running into some sort of object or surface, and you’ll use that mechanic to move about various levels collecting objects or triggering events and eventually ending up at the exit. It seems like a simplistic type of game at first, but not being able to move mid-air means you need to plan carefully when and where you do move, and it’s almost like a fast-action version of a logic puzzler in that way. Example of the type of game I’m describing include The Last Rocket, Tomb of the Mask, and Poor Thief, among others.

So anyway, Cyber Protocol is one of THOSE types of games, and it came out on Nintendo Switch, Xbox, and PC a few years back and seemed to be well-liked by those who played it on those platforms. But now that it has arrived on mobile this week, it really kind of feels like this is where Cyber Protocol is most at home. In the game you’ll do pretty much what I’ve already described, sliding around 100 levels collecting objects while avoiding hazards, with the goal of reaching the end of each level to move on to the next. Of course, that’s a lot easier said than done given the many unique variables introduced over the course of the game and the numerous ways you can insta-kill yourself if you aren’t careful.

The premise in Cyber Protocol is that you’re a hacker, and solving each level is actually you “hacking" it. The game is super cyberpunk’d out, with a killer synthwave soundtrack and glow-y neon visuals as well as plenty of comic-style cutscenes explaining the game’s story. There’s also some sort of filtering going on that makes everything look like it’s being played on a CRT screen or something. Basically, if you like the ’80s revival of the past several years, or you’re old like me and have fond memories of the actual ’80s, you’ll like what’s going on here. Special shoutout to the game for having a music player built in so you can listen to the great tunes in all their glory.

As great as it all looks and sounds though, Cyber Protocol really nails it in the gameplay department. The swipe-based movement just feels right on a touchscreen, and each of the game’s levels are very expertly designed to test both your fast-reaction skills and how good you are at carefully planning things out. This is a brutally challenging game, but not in a frustrating way at all. Super fast restarts and checkpoints ensure that you aren’t pulling your hair out even if you are retrying a certain level segment dozens of times over and over. Cyber Protocol is a special blend of action and puzzle wrapped up in a quality presentation, and it’s an easy recommendation from me for fans of this type of game, whatever its name may be.

Teaser Trailer Released for ‘Laya’s Horizon’, a New Title from ‘Alto’s Adventure/Odyssey’ Developer Snowman

Jared Nelson — Fri, 10 Mar 2023 00:15:54 +0000

The good folks at Snowman who brought us the likes of Alto’s Adventure and Alto’s Odyssey are now teasing a brand new title in partnership with Netflix. The new game is called Laya’s Horizon and, based off today’s newly-released teaser trailer, it looks to be quite the stylish and beautiful game. That kind of goes without saying for anything Snowman has a hand in though, right? The Alto games, Where Cards Fall, Skate City, Lucky Luna… these are all very attractive games. But what exactly is it that you do in Laya’s Horizon? You are more than welcome to take a guess based off of the aforementioned gorgeous teaser trailer.

The easy money is that this is a wingsuit game, and it’s kind of giving me a Sky: Children of the Light vibe. You can see various types of obstacles as the camera moves through the environment, some of them almost looking like they’re taken straight out of an Alto game. So perhaps we’ll be wingsuiting down and grinding lines, hitting tricks, or collecting items along the way. Also noted in the trailer is that this will be a Netflix game, and this won’t be the first collaboration between Netflix and Snowman as the two released (the excellent) Lucky Luna in September of last year. Whatever Laya’s Horizon does end up being I’m sure it’ll be well worth checking out based on Snowman’s track record, so hopefully we’ll get some more details soon.

Out Now: ‘PARANORMASIGHT: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo’, ‘IDEA’, ‘Munchkin Digital’, ‘Doctor Who: Lost In Time’, ‘The King of Fighters: Survival City’, ‘Toziuha Night’, ‘Cyber Protocol’ and More

Jared Nelson — Thu, 09 Mar 2023 04:33:09 +0000

Attorney of the Arcane (Free)

iTunes Description

A murder mystery courtroom drama.

Tyrion Cuthbert: Attorney of the Arcane is an interactive murder mystery. You play as a defense attorney who practices law in a world of fantasy and wizards. You must defend clients accused of various crimes committed using magic and use the rules of magic to prove them innocent. However, the system is corrupt to its core and manipulated by the aristocracy. Will you acquit your innocent clients in light of that? Or will you fall before a corrupt judicial system?

Forum Thread: Attorney of the Arcane (by Diamondhenge Studios)

Cyber Protocol ($1.99)

iTunes Description

Want to feel like a cyberpunk hacker? Save your friend by beating 100 levels of security system in this hardcore arcade puzzle game.

Highly awarded, the hardest game in history heading to your phones – are you ready for the challenge?

Cyber Protocol is an arcade puzzle game set in Cyberpunk scenario with a strong and dynamic gameplay. You impersonate the main hero, whose mission is to bring his humanoid friend –G0X6 back to life by activating the protocol.

Forum Thread: Cyber Protocol (by RedDeerGames)

Doctor Who: Lost In Time (Free)

iTunes Description

From the world of the beloved Sci-Fi franchise, Doctor Who: Lost in Time is an idle game where players join the Doctor in unraveling a sinister plot threatening the universe!

Power-up your Waypoints to obtain the mysterious Vortex Energy, a crucial force used to thwart the Doctor’s most fearsome foes.

Travel to classic locations from the franchise, and team up with your favorite companions! Together you’ll face enemies like the Daleks, Cybermen and many more! Collect character cards and use strange new resources like Kyfred Gems and Henoch Matter to level up your companions. These resources are key to discovering why the Doctor and friends find themselves lost in time.

Forum Thread: Doctor Who: Lost In Time (by Eastside Games)

Ghost Pilots ACA NEOGEO ($3.99)

iTunes Description

GHOST PILOTS is a shooting game released by SNK in 1991.
The hero flies an old-fashioned seaplane in order to fight the two powerful nations invading their own country.
Alongside giant military weapons, a mysterious combat unit arrives and makes for an intense battle.

Forum Thread: Ghost Pilots ACA NEOGEO (by SNK)

IDEA ($3.99)

iTunes Description

Explore gorgeous landscapes, roll down highways and stumble upon welcoming cottages and abandoned dumpsters. Help your ideas find their way – and share them with the world when they stop, before beginning your journey anew.

Forum Thread: IDEA (by Delirium Studios/TLR Games)

The King of Fighters: Survival City (Free)

iTunes Description

◆ Gather Fighters and defeat the Afflicted and the Nests organization! ◆
A world conquered by the Nests.
In many places around the city, Cyborgs and the Afflicted are ruining the world with violence.

We’re running short of resources and people to confront them.
Join together with the Fighters and free as many cities as possible!

In the world full of chaos and disorder,
your fists and companions are the only things you can trust…

Forum Thread: The King of Fighters: Survival City (by JOYCITY)

kingbit (Free)

iTunes Description

kingbit is a completely free turn-based multiplayer game.

It’s like chess, but the pieces take up multiple squares… If you like “Really Bad Chess", “Hero Academy" (RIP), “The Night Fall Incident", or “Pawnbarian" I think you’ll love “kingbit"!

Play against the AI to sharpen your skills or asynchronously against anyone on Game Center!

Forum Thread: kingbit (by Bracket Ltd.)

Munchkin Digital ($9.99)

iTunes Description

Go down to the dungeon. Kick in the door. Kill everything you find. Backstab your friends. Steal the treasure and run.

With millions of copies sold around the world, Munchkin is the mega-hit card game about dungeon adventure…with none of that stupid roleplaying stuff. You and your friends compete to kill monsters and grab magic items. Don the Horny Helmet and the Boots of Butt-Kicking. Wield the Staff of Napalm…or maybe the Chainsaw of Bloody Dismemberment. Start by slaughtering the Potted Plant and the Drooling Slime, and work your way up to the Plutonium Dragon!

Forum Thread: Munchkin Digital (by Dire Wolf Digital)

PARANORMASIGHT: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo ($18.99)

iTunes Description

A horror mystery adventure game that takes place in Sumida ward, Japan in the late Shōwa ara.
Unique characters swayed by curses. Their motives intertwines as the story unfolds. And you are tasked to bring the story to its end with your own hands.

Forum Thread: PARANORMASIGHT: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo (by SQUARE ENIX)

RichCast (Free)

iTunes Description

Introducing RichCast, the immersive storytelling app that allows you to play interactive stories you can talk to. Engage in a wide variety of stories, including mysteries, thrillers, teen romances, dramas, puzzles, and quizzes.

Unleash your creativity with the fully-featured built-in creation studio. Create your own titles using easy-to-use visual tiles and flowcharts without any coding or script languages. Collaborate with others remotely and access a built-in media library, AI voices, analytics, and a virtual mobile device for testing. Import additional assets such as audio tracks, voice-overs, pictures, animations, and videos to enhance your experience.

Share your creations with friends or publish them to the world. Join the community on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Discord, and Twitter.

Forum Thread: RichCast (by Panivox)

Toziuha Night ($4.99)

iTunes Description

This is not the story of a heroine who seeks to protect people. Xandria, for selfish reasons, goes on a dangerous mission to Dracula’s castle.

In Transylvania, the story is told of a legendary alchemist named Vlad Tepes (Dracula), one day he was sentenced to death for having made a pact with a Toziuha, and thus acquiring demonic power. Years later, several alchemists from The Order have been found impaled outside Dracula’s castle, and it seems that somehow Vlad Tepes has been resurrected in search of revenge.

Forum Thread: Toziuha Night (by Danny Garay / TuanisApps SRL)

Uncharted Waters Origin (Free)

iTunes Description

Series Commemorating the 30th anniversary of the ‘Uncharted Waters’ series
Enter into the Endless Possibility, ‘Uncharted Waters Origin’

A story that unfolds in the 16th century, a time that was still shrouded in mystery.
Now, it is time to set sail into an open world with excitement you’ve never felt before!

Experience freedom and joy as you journey across the globe through the game’s various features, including sailing, adventures, combat, and trading!

Forum Thread: Uncharted Waters Origin (by LINE Games)

555! (Free)

iTunes Description

Tap the buttons to place numbers on them so that they sum up to 5. The numbers can sum up to 5 along the row, column or diagonally.
Numbers get cleared up when they add to 5 so that more numbers can be placed. When none of the rows/columns/diagonals add to 5 and the 9×9 cells fill up, the game is over. The game supports two modes – infinite and timed mode. Friends can challenge each other for high scores in timed mode.
The buttons need to be just tapped and the numbers need not be dragged to save time!

Forum Thread: 555! (by Seema Datar)

‘Peridot’, Niantic’s Augmented Reality Virtual Pet Game, is Launching Globally May 9th

Jared Nelson — Wed, 08 Mar 2023 21:49:05 +0000

Just shy of a year ago Niantic announced Peridot, a virtual pet style game that blended the augmented reality and social gaming aspects that they are known for with hits such as Pokemon Go. As I said at that time I always felt like smartphones were the perfect platform for virtual pet games, since just about everybody has a smartphone and they are almost always with us wherever we go. I love the idea of a virtual pet but I’m not going to be toting around a chunky keychain anytime soon, but I’ll definitely have my phone on me at all times, which means I’m more likely to actually care for a virtual pet. Surprisingly though there just hasn’t been that killer virtual pet app for smartphones in the 15-ish years they’ve been around. I’m not saying that Peridot will be that killer app, but I’m definitely willing to give it a shot. Here’s a brand new trailer.

The overall concept behind Peridot is that the titular creatures once inhabited our planet, but mysteriously went dormant for generations. They’ve recently reawakened and are now out to have a good time experiencing the greatly changed planet with their weird co-inhabitants the humans. As Niantic notes on the game’s blog, every Peridot is “100% genetically unique" and so while you’ll certainly be taking care of your own pets by feeding them, cleaning them, and keeping them happy, you’ll also be able to do some cross-breeding with other Peridot owners in order to create interesting and unique new offspring. As the blog post and above trailer also state, Peridot will be launching globally on May 9th, and you can currently pre-order on the iOS App Store or pre-register on the Google Play Store to earn yourself a special cosmetic party hat for your pet on launch. Free hat, people! You know what to do.

Huge Playdate Update Today Brings Catalog, the New On-Device App Store, and Lots of New Games

Jared Nelson — Tue, 07 Mar 2023 21:20:35 +0000

It’s hard to believe but we’re coming up on the 4 year anniversary of Panic first introducing the world to the Playdate, their quirky handheld gaming system. Announced in May of 2019 it immediately caught the attention of many, ourselves included, due to its very against-the-grain nature compared to pretty much any other gaming system around. Unfortunately it wasn’t long after that the Covid pandemic kind of crippled the entire world, which was especially difficult for a small company that was trying to produce its first ever piece of hardware. Supply chain issues and the inability to travel really ground Playdate’s momentum to a halt, especially for a device that used several non-standard parts. It wouldn’t be until April of last year that Playdate units began finally arriving in people’s eager hands.

The bright side to all that is that the Playdate really was worth the wait. The quality of games included in their Season 1 release was truly outstanding, and really ran the gamut of different genres and experiences. I loved the Playdate in my review from last year with my only real gripe being the non-backlit screen. Beyond the official Season of games sanctioned by Panic there was a burgeoning community of Playdate enthusiasts who were making all sorts of crazy and clever games as well, and that community has only grown since the system’s release about a year ago.

Having basically unlimited options for new things to check out on the Playdate has been really exciting, but it’s also been kind of frustrating. This is mostly due to discovery as there’s no main source to find Playdate games. Itch.io has kind of evolved to become the unofficial hub to find new stuff, but the quality of the games that you do find is ALL over the place. There’s not really any good way to tell from a glance whether something is somebody’s “hello world" first ever game that’s nothing more than a bare-bones Asteroids clone or if it’s the next Cave Story or Stardew Valley. The Hello Playdate Podcast has become a wonderful resource for Playdate game discovery, but it’s still harder than it should be in order to find the great stuff you should be playing on Playdate.

Well today Panic has unveiled a massive new update to the Playdate that will hopefully help address these issues. They’ve created something called Catalog which is more or less an on-device and web-based app store for Playdate. On launch today Catalog features 16 titles, all hand-picked by the folks at Panic. Most games are paid, however there are 2 new games which are completely free to everyone and are considered “bonus games" for Season 1. Those games are Reel Steal and Recommendation Dog. Panic’s digital event today is only about 13 minutes long and it features tons of info about Catalog and today’s batch of games, as well as a few other Playdate-related topics, and it’s probably worth just watching the entire thing if you have a few spare minutes.

As stated in the video, Panic is close to fulfilling all remaining pre-orders for the Playdate, and according to a press release they’ve now shipped more than 25,000 devices to date. Unfortunately due to current inflation and ongoing pandemic-related issues, Panic is going to need to raise the price of Playdate from $179 to $199. That includes the device itself as well as the 24 games in Season 1, plus the 2 free bonus games announced alongside Catalog today. The good news is that if you already have a pre-order in the price won’t go up, and in fact if you’ve been on the fence about pre-ordering at all they’re giving everyone a one month window to get a pre-order in at the lower $179 price point. That means that as long as you pre-order before April 7th you’ll lock in the $179 price.

There was also a quick update on the Stereo Dock accessory for Playdate, which is more or less “it hasn’t been forgotten about and is still in the works." Hopefully pricing and release timing for that will come in the near future. But really the big news today is Catalog and the start of what will hopefully be an awesome new source to discover new Playdate games and software. If you own a Playdate be sure to update your software to check out Catalog on the device itself, or you can see the full library of games including screens, info, and pricing on the Playdate website. If you’re a developer that wants to submit your game for Catalog consideration there is a link at the bottom of that page with more information about that.

Buying Stuff We Don’t Need – The TouchArcade Show #550

Jared Nelson — Sat, 04 Mar 2023 04:15:55 +0000

Welp… we’re not so good at this “record every week" thing, I guess. The last couple of weeks have had interference of some form or another, so apologies for our absences and the many absences in general during the last several months. I sincerely do hope to see things get more on track! That somewhat starts this week, where I was recording from an actual desk while sitting in an actual chair with all my normal podcasting equipment all set up. It’s a huge improvement over balancing my laptop and mic on two overturned cardboard boxes while sitting on the edge of a fold-out couch.

Oh, right! This week’s show. We talk about the latest in the Hogwart’s Legacy drama, and then dive into a couple of reader emails that as expected launch us into several additional topics. We love your emails so please keep sending them! We then talk about the oxymoronically named Miyoo Mini Plus which is a larger Miyoo Mini with Wifi, and despite swearing to myself I was done buying these little handheld game machines, I totally caved on this one. It’s ok though because I also convinced Eli to cave on one live during the show. We then speculate on what the Playdate showcase next Tuesday might entail, and then talk about the Apple Watch Ultra to close the show, since Eli just picked one up. Phew, it’s a packed episode!

Stitcher: The TouchArcade Show via Stitcher Radio for Podcasts
RSS Feed: The TouchArcade Show
Direct Link: TouchArcadeShow-550.mp3

TouchArcade Game of the Week: ‘Stuffo the Puzzle Bot’

Jared Nelson — Sat, 04 Mar 2023 03:55:57 +0000

It’s not uncommon for a developer who has worked at larger companies and on larger projects during their career to have side projects as a solo developer. Finnish indie developer Antti Tiihonen, who has worked on larger-scale AAA games like Control and Alan Wake, is also the co-founder of Almost Human who are most well-known for their Legend of Grimrock series of old-school style first-person dungeon crawlers. He also has a company called Hapatus for releasing solo projects and other works, and it’s this avenue that he has introduced Stuffo the Puzzle Bot to the world.

Stuffo the Puzzle Bot is a puzzler about utilizing blocks in various ways in order to reach an exit door. It sounds simple on paper, but let me assure you that it is not. Though you don’t see it, each level is essentially a big grid, and your character can only climb one square high, the same height as a block. You can pick up and carry blocks, but the kicker is that you can only place them in designated zones. Order of operation is pretty important, as is utilizing these designated spaces in strategic ways. Special blocks with portals, geysers of water, or other unique features keep things interesting and challenging.

What really made Stuffo stick for me though is its ability to be played in portrait orientation. It feels like landscape is probably the way it was originally designed, and it’s this orientation that gives you the fullest view of each level. But portrait allows you to play with just one thumb, and the nature of these block puzzles is that they’re something you’ll oftentimes need to chew on for a bit, trying various configurations of blocks until finally figuring out the right way forward. In this sense I almost find myself playing levels in Stuffo the same way I’d play a crossword or a sudoku puzzle. Perfect to bust out while drinking my morning coffee or when there’s a few minutes to kill during the day.

I also would be remiss to not mention how absolutely stunning Stuffo the Puzzle Bot is visually. It has that vague but somehow still detailed style of pixel art reminiscent of Sword & Sworcery, and each level begins by the environment itself aggressively surfacing from a body of water, which uses this gorgeous reflection trickery that feels like it was inspired by Castlevania: Bloodlines. The music also sets a very interesting atmosphere that matches with the visuals well, and I find myself wanting to learn more about this strange little world the game takes place in. Really, Stuffo the Puzzle Bot fires on pretty much every cylinder, so if you’re a fan of logic-style puzzles that will really test your grey matter it’s an effortless recommendation.

Action-Packed Shoot ‘Em Up ‘AirAttack 2’ Updated for the First Time in 6 Years, Now Optimized for Modern Devices

Jared Nelson — Fri, 03 Mar 2023 22:38:56 +0000

I have this folder on my iPhone that is filled with some of my all-time favorite games that haven’t been updated in forever, games like KeroBlaster, The Incident, Ridiculous Fishing, Slayin, Punch Quest, and more. These games have never left my device and despite not being optimized for today’s iOS devices I keep that folder around in the hopes that someday maybe one or more of those games will get the modern updates they deserve. Most of the time I’m just left waiting and wanting, but every once in a while a super old game will get a surprise update out of the blue, and it sends my heart aflutter. This time around the golden oldie getting updated is AirAttack 2.

You may remember if you hung around these parts in late 2015 when AirAttack 2 first released just what an impact it had on the community. Not only was the game mind blowing in the visuals department, but it offered up a ton of variety in terms of gameplay that you don’t always see in the shoot ’em up genre, and altogether it felt like something that would have easily been a $30 or $40 PS Vita game and nobody would have batted an eye. Instead it was a mobile game that cost all of two dollars, and for the majority of its existence including right this moment, just a single dollar. Crazy. I awarded it our Game of the Week honors when it released and we gave it 5 stars in our original review.

Of course that was the better part of a decade ago, and AirAttack 2 while still quite the looker maybe isn’t as impressive as it was back in 2015. That said I’ve always just loved the whole package, not just the visuals, and have desperately hoped to see the game updated in any capacity to get it looking and playing its best on modern devices. Seeing as its last update was in early 2017 I didn’t have a lot of hope, so it was extra shocking to see AirAttack 2 get an update this week. The game now properly supports full screen devices, the campaign seems to have been reworked a bit with new side missions added, an entirely new plane is now available along with new skins for existing planes and wingmen, and more.

As best as I can remember, the developer behind AirAttack 2 (and its excellent predecessor AirAttack HD, which is sadly no longer on the App Store) was just a couple of people, and I think nowadays the entire project is handled by just one of those people. It’s a real sign that this is a labor of love that someone is still out there putting in the work to keep this game alive, even if it did take 6 years. Best of all is that not only do original fans like myself get to re-experience AirAttack 2 all over again with some shiny new features, but now brand new players who missed it the first time around can experience it as well, which is a wonderful thing. There’s 7+ years of discussion about it in our forums, and as I said the game is currently just a dollar, so you know what to do.

Out Now: ‘The Legend of Tianding’, ‘Stuffo the Puzzle Bot’, ‘Street Fighter Duel’, ‘EISEN’, ‘Volzerk: Monsters of Lands Unknown’, ‘CrimeTrip’, ‘Cave Ranger’, and More

Jared Nelson — Thu, 02 Mar 2023 06:13:25 +0000

Beecarbonize (Free)

iTunes Description

Do you have what it takes to save the planet? Beecarbonize is an environmental card strategy game with climate change as your opponent.

Research cutting-edge technologies, enact policies, protect ecosystems, and modernize industry to cut down carbon emissions. Manage your resources well and you might survive.

Forum Thread: Beecarbonize (by Charles Games)

Cave Ranger ($1.99)

iTunes Description

When the Bitty Gang steals the town’s livelihood and takes it underground, a lone, brave cowboy must come to the rescue. Cave Ranger is an 8-bit inspired, retro platform game. Rescue sheep, fight outlaws, and face down dangerous critters. With a whip and pistol at his disposal, the cave ranger must traverse old mines, water reservoirs, and even a saw mill! It is a lighthearted, laid back western, full of platformer fun.

Forum Thread: Cave Ranger (by Cascadia Games)

CrimeTrip (Free)

iTunes Description

Play a true-crime prologue for free, then decide if you want to buy one or multiple CrimeTrips.
No ads, no subscription, no hidden costs. CrimeTrip is a true crime adventure game in augmented reality from Prologue XR studio.

The objective of the game is to solve unsolved cold cases by exploring and investigating the crime scenes in augmented reality. The game features 6 real-life crimes, all of which are based on clever and notorious cases from the 70s and 80s. Players will have to analyze evidence and clues to solve the crimes, and as they progress, the game becomes more immersive and surreal, with captivating content and an atmospheric police station.

Forum Thread: CrimeTrip (by Prologue XR)

EISEN ($1.99)

iTunes Description

EISEN is a MechSimulator that allows you to pilot a massive Mech!

You start by entering a heavy iron box and activating your mech. To destory the enemy Mechs, not only piloting skills but also mech upgrades are important strategic elements. It is up to you to decide which armament to upgrade and how.

Destroy the oncoming enemies with a variety of armaments.

Forum Thread: EISEN (by HIDEKI HANIDA)

Gobble It (Free)

iTunes Description

Excess of good or rotten food is bad for a high score!

Gobble equal quantities of good and rotten food for a high score! Gobbling spoilt food does not reduce your score!

Forum Thread: Gobble It (by Seema Datar)

The Legend of Tianding ($6.99)

iTunes Description

The Legend of Tianding is a sidescrolling action game featuring a legendary Taiwanese Hero. Explore the dazzling streets of Colonial Taiwan in the early 20th century.

Play as Liao Tianding (AKA. Liāu Thiam-Ting), vigilante of Taipei city and wanted by the Colonial Japanese authorities. Rob the rich, feed the poor, and fight for justice in the streets of early 20th century Taipei as Taiwan’s legendary outlaw. Based on real events, real people and real situations, The Legend of Tianding is an exploration of a place and time often overlooked and presented in the style of Traditional Chinese Manga.

Forum Thread: The Legend of Tianding (by Another Indie)

Limbus Company (Free)

iTunes Description

A Combination of Turn-based RPG and Realtime Brawl

Each turn results in a display of exhilarating action. In the combat phase, units on both sides will act simultaneously.
During the scramble, characters targeting each other may Clash. The outcome of a Clash depends on the strength of their opposing skills and a sprinkle of luck; the winner can shut down the loser’s skill. Ensure you use the right skills to win Clashes.

Forum Thread: Limbus Company (by Project Moon)

N-INNOCENCE- (Free)

iTunes Description

A “Divine combo action RPG" with elements of a fighting game is now available!

The tap-and-flick fighting action, a unique interpretation of the mythological crossover story, and the state-of-the-art artwork that enhances the story.
N-INNOCENCE is a new fighting action RPG with a nostalgic feel.

Forum Thread: N-INNOCENCE- (by Asobimo)

Real Bout Fatal Fury Special ACA NEOGEO ($3.99)

iTunes Description

REAL BOUT FATAL FURY SPECIAL is a fighting game released by SNK in 1997.
Introducing a brand-new 2-line battle system, a refinement of the Power Gauge system,
and the abolishment of the ring-out system, the battle tactics of this system have been further improved. Along with Wolfgang Krauser, a total of 19 combatants appear.

Forum Thread: Real Bout Fatal Fury Special ACA NEOGEO (by SNK)

Street Fighter Duel (Free)

iTunes Description

Enter the world of Street Fighter like never before with the first mobile RPG game of the franchise – Street Fighter: Duel!

Street Fighter: Duel is the official Street Fighter RPG mobile game for the casual Street Fighter fan, where you can collect and upgrade a team of recognizable fighters and battle your way through an original story or against friends and powerful opponents around the world.

Forum Thread: Street Fighter Duel (by Crunchyroll Games)

Stuffo the Puzzle Bot ($4.99)

iTunes Description

Stuffo is the last remaining puzzle bot stuck in a world filled with bite-sized brain-teasers. Help Stuffo to solve the mind-bending puzzles by using various blocks to climb, push and teleport your way to the exit.

Forum Thread: Stuffo the Puzzle Bot (by Hapatus Ltd)

Tacape (Free)

iTunes Description

Tacape is a deck-builder card game with roguelite elements for those who love a tactical challenge. Take part in a series of combats, build your strategy, upgrade your cards and face folkloric creatures along the way!

Be careful! Enemies can switch between positions and will be intent on hindering you in various ways during combat. You will have to manipulate the battlefield, understand the behavior of each enemy, and make smart moves to win every battle: there are countless strategies’ opportunities!

Buy and upgrade your cards at the shop, get new abilities with the artifact, heal yourself at the campfire and fight bosses in a Brazilian folk universe!

Forum Thread: Tacape (by Plug In Digital)

Unmatched: Digital Edition ($7.99)

iTunes Description

Unmatched: Digital Edition is an adaptation of the critically acclaimed board game, where two (or more) opponents command characters from myth, history, or fiction in a battle for the ages! Have you ever wondered who would win, King Arthur (aided by Merlin) or a sword-wielding Alice of Wonderland? How would Sinbad and his trusty porter fare against Medusa and the three harpies? The only way to find the truth is in battle with a quick game of Unmatched!

Forum Thread: Unmatched: Digital Edition (by Acram Digital)

Volzerk (Free)

iTunes Description

Volzerk：Monsters and Lands Unknown, the Crossbreeding Action RPG!
Join protagonist Fina on an adventure to discover legendary monsters!
Raise monsters, join a colorful cast of friends, and face off against powerful enemies!

Forum Thread: Volzerk (by COLOPL, Inc.)

TouchArcade Game of the Week: ‘Ultra Blade’

Jared Nelson — Sat, 25 Feb 2023 01:30:34 +0000

I have to admit that while I have given the multitude of Vampire Survivors-likes a try over the years, the genre didn’t actually “click" for me until the real-deal Vampire Survivors arrived on iOS late last year. Since then I haven’t really felt the desire to go back to any of the me-too games to approach them with a fresh perspective or anything, nor have I particularly felt very excited about any upcoming games that were cut from the same cloth. I guess Vampire Survivors was the porridge that was just right for me.

There was one exception, though. I love all the games from developer Kyle Barrett and so last year when he first announced Ultra Blade, a game with a similar overall vibe to Vampire Survivors, I was definitely interested. The game took some big twists and turns and changed quite a bit over its development compared to what it was originally announced as, but all of that was certainly for the better and what we have here now is something that looks the part of a Vampire Survivors-like but in reality plays much differently.

You’re still a lone badass fighting off mobs of bad guys that only grow in numbers and strength the longer you survive, but where Vampire Survivors feels almost like a bullet hell as your focus shifts to avoiding enemies and letting your offensive abilities do the work of taking them out, combat in Ultra Blade is much more deliberate and strategic. Also, as is sort of a hallmark of a Kyle Barrett game, it’s designed to be played with just one thumb. Tap and drag to move your character and perform automatic attacks, but let go of the screen to deliver a heavy attack. Tap the screen to do a stomp attack to clear the area directly around you, and swipe to dodge in any direction.

It’s not tremendously complex or anything, but it’s wild how having a few extra mechanics for combat can really change up the feel of this type of game. In addition to the combat mechanics themselves, the real core of Ultra Blade is all about customizing your loadouts in what feels like a million different ways that can completely change up how the game plays. This is a game that is designed for people to try out wacky builds and see what sort of stuff sticks. It also doesn’t hurt that the progression system for all this stuff works like a constant drip feed of unlocking cool stuff that keeps you coming back run after run.

My one major knock against Ultra Blade is that it’s very obtuse, and leaves a whole lot of stuff for the player to figure out. Not totally intentionally, and the game has made huge strides in this department since its earlier beta days with work in that area continuing, but also I think it’s kind of fun figuring stuff out as you go, and it’s a good reason to chat about the game with people online and share tactics or discoveries.

While its more methodical combat can be tough to adjust to at first, I think once most people settle into the game’s loop and start unlocking some cool stuff Ultra Blade will sink its teeth right in. There’s an absurd amount of stuff to do between the different game modes and unlockables, so as long as you don’t mind a game that throws some pretty decent challenge at you I think you’ll more than get your three buck’s worth. I know the Dark Souls analogies are so played out by now, but truly if there ever was a Dark Souls take on a Vampire Survivors-like then Ultra Blade is it.

Out Now: ‘Ultra Blade’, ‘Ultimate Sackboy’, ‘Dust & Neon’, ‘Farmer Against Potatoes’, ‘Not Not 2’, ‘Vendir: Plague of Lies’, ‘Wrath of the Gods’, ‘Gomorrah’ and More

Jared Nelson — Thu, 23 Feb 2023 04:10:43 +0000

Dust & Neon (Free)

iTunes Description

Load ’em up, Gunslinger. Find the loot, kill the boss. You’re a Wild West cyborg fighting an army of robots in this futuristic, action-packed shooter.

In a futuristic Wild West, robots that were once designed to help with life have taken over the planet, threatening humans. You play as the Gunslinger, the baddest in the Old West, cloned back to life by a mad human scientist to fight off the robot oppression. Dust & Neon is a classic top-down, twin-stick shooter with RPG progression and influences from the roguelite and looter shooter genres.

Forum Thread: Dust & Neon (by David Marquardt Studios and Rogue Games)

Farmer Against Potatoes Idle (Free)

iTunes Description

With a past shrouded in mystery, that wakes up in the middle of a field and is attacked by a horde of mutated Potatoes. With no one else in sight, he takes it upon himself to try and keep the evil infestation in check.

Forum Thread: Farmer Against Potatoes Idle (by Oni Gaming)

Frösch (Free)

iTunes Description

Gobble mosquitoes, dodge storks, live the frog life.

No pesky ads.

Forum Thread: Frösch (by Stefan Villiger)

Gomorrah ($2.99)

iTunes Description

Become the next crime syndicate boss in a dark and suspenseful narrative RPG about an Italian mafia family, where morality is tested with every branching decision.

Set in the suburbs of the Italian city of Naples, Gomorrah is a twisted story of the blurred lines between good and evil.

You are Nina, the daughter of mafia boss Sergio Miniero. On the night of your 18th birthday, you miraculously survive a violent attack at your party, but your father is ruthlessly killed.

Forum Thread: Gomorrah (by 34BigThings)

Long Nose Dog (Free)

iTunes Description

A game about the long nose borzoi dog.
Be the best of all dogs and grow your nose far and beyond.
Long Nose Dog is an endless running game where you play as a borzoi and stretch your nose through an amazing adventure.
Eat all the chips and unlock your favorite dog.
How long is your nose?

Forum Thread: Long Nose Dog (by Tapmen)

Not Not 2 (Free)

iTunes Description

HOW TO PLAY:
• Read the instructions written on the cube
• Swipe your finger (or not!) towards the correct direction following these instructions
• Solve as many puzzles as you can to maximize your score and rewards!
• Be careful about the time limit and don’t let your brain get tricked!

Forum Thread: Not Not 2 (by Alternative Shift)

Random Dice: GO (Free)

iTunes Description

Claim victory by countering the opponent’s strategy and placing the right Dice in the right place. Always think strategically about your next move. There are no weaker or stronger Dice, only Dice with unique skills and traits.
For example, there is the Wind Dice, which can attack faraway targets with small damage, and the Sword Dice, which can attack only nearby targets but with greater damage.

Come up with a unique strategy with the Dice and claim victory! Don’t miss out on the excitement every moment! With various game modes to play, you won’t have a chance to get bored!

Forum Thread: Random Dice: GO (by 111%)

Space Love (Free)

iTunes Description

No turning back! This is a retro maze game where you wander through the universe in search of your lover.
Be careful not to fall off the blocks and reach the goal.

The adventure begins as you search for the only true love in the universe.
Try not to fall off the paved blocks and reach your lover!
Can you reach the goal while avoiding various aliens?
Use the items that fall along the way to help you clear all 30 stages!
A blessed ending awaits you!
Feel the love of the universe!

Forum Thread: Space Love (by Tanisu Games)

SUBNET ($3.99)

iTunes Description

Embark on an exciting escape room adventure as you attempt to stop the drkFORCE subway exploit! Test your detective skills and solve the puzzle as you race against time in the heart of the city. A new hacker group, drkFORCE, has caused a cyber attack on the subway, causing chaos and disruption, but you’ve been called in to track down the hackers and uncover their plan.

Forum Thread: SUBNET – Escape Room Adventure (by M9 Games)

Ultimate Sackboy (Free)

iTunes Description

PLAY AS ICONIC HERO SACKBOY as he takes on the legendary Ultimate Games, the most prestigious – and craziest – obstacle racing tournament in all of Craftworld! Can you slide, dodge and weave past classic Sackboy enemies, surpass your rivals to win cool prizes – all while lookin’ stylish!?

SWIPE TO DODGE, SLIDE, JUMP in this super-competitive runner challenge! Use precise timing, fast reactions, and a little smarts to think ahead and beat all challengers! Can you collect the most Bubbles to win? As you progress, you will unlock more Tiers – allowing Sackboy to explore a variety of awesome tracks, from the vibrantly stitched race tracks to the paper-crafted library halls!

Forum Thread: Ultimate Sackboy (by Exient)

Ultra Blade ($2.99)

iTunes Description

Defend Mankind’s last city from the endless hordes of darkness! Ultra Blade is a horde survival RPG with rogue-lite progression elements. Build new heroes to take on new challenges while cutting through 1000s of foes at once. New heroes unlock new powers, making runs more dynamic the more you play.

Drag to move and auto attack, release to execute a heavy attack. Swipe to dodge. The controls are simple, but the real complexity is in how you build your champion. Infuse flaming bolts into your bow, generate earthquakes with your slashes, or summon blizzards with your shield- the possibilities are almost limitless.

Forum Thread: Ultra Blade (by Kyle Barrett)

Vendir: Plague of Lies (Free)

iTunes Description

Vendir: Plague of Lies is a classic party-based RPG with a deep storyline and synergy-heavy combat. Look forward to many hours of gameplay filled with memorable characters, intense battles, deep and engaging quests, character skills, and gear progression in the vein of old-school RPGs of the late 90s and early 2000s.

A dynamic and immersive world brimming with the “old school vibes" of CRPG classics
Explore a tactical RPG set in a dark fantasy world. Can you escape the wrath of King Elrik and save the kingdom?

Forum Thread: Vendir: Plague of Lies (by Early Morning Studio)

Wrath of the Gods (Free)

iTunes Description

Take the role of a hero on a quest to regain your kingdom. In this photo-realistic adventure game based on Greek myths, you’ll explore over a hundred scenes created from original photographs of Greece. Fight monsters, encounter colorful live-action characters, and match wits against challenges based on the exploits of the greatest heroes of all time. Like Hercules, you fight the Hydra, like Daedalus, you build wings to fly, and like Theseus, you challenge the Minotaur in the heart of the labyrinth.

Forum Thread: Wrath of the Gods (by Mythweb)

‘Mighty Doom’ Now Open for Pre-Registration on iOS and Android Ahead of March 21st Global Launch

Jared Nelson — Tue, 21 Feb 2023 22:38:13 +0000

It’s no secret that Bethesda and its subsidiary studio Alpha Dog Games have been working on a Doom-related mobile game for quite some time, but it looks like the light is finally at the end of the tunnel as today they’ve unveiled a pre-registration campaign and global release date. The game in question is called Mighty Doom and it’s more or less a take on the bite-sized roguelike top-down shooter genre that Archero made so famous several years back, but stuffed to the gills with all the Hellish and gory facets from the Doom universe–except all cute and chibi. Yes you’ll be ripping and tearing demons and hellspawn, but everything has a cartoonish and colorful look because your character in this adventure is actually the Mini Slayer, the collectible doll–er, action figure–from the most recent mainline Doom games. It’s all very adorable in a demented kind of way, as you can see from this brand new trailer for Mighty Doom.

We just experienced the Archero-ification of another legendary gaming IP with Tomb Raider Reloaded just last week, but as much as I love Lara and her adventures, I’m a Doom guy through and through. Mighty Doom has been in various stages of soft launch for a couple of years already, and I recently grabbed it from the Canadian App Store to see the kind of state it’s currently in. I have to say I’ve fallen pretty in love with the whole thing, at least from a gameplay standpoint. Monetization-wise it remains to be seen how fairly things will shake out, but for the couple of weeks I’ve been playing it hasn’t really been an issue. In fact they just added a Battle Pass system to the game and a bunch of other cool unlocks and customizations. If you’re interested in Mighty Doom yourself you can pre-register on the game’s website for iOS or on Google Play directly if you’re on Android and you’ll unlock some special gear when the game launches globally on March 21st.

TouchArcade Game of the Week: ‘Dust & Neon’

Jared Nelson — Sat, 18 Feb 2023 00:46:19 +0000

Coming in a wee bit after the normal batch of weekly new releases this week, Dust & Neon from David Marquardt Studios and Rogue Games has done something we don’t see all too often. It has launched on mobile at the same time as on PC and console, and it comes to mobile courtesy of the Netflix Games library. It also brings a unique spin on a very well-worn roguelike looter shooter genre, and it’s a formula that I actually think works the best as a game on the go.

Sure, with Steam Deck and Nintendo Switch I guess technically you can “game on the go" with all the platforms Dust & Neon is currently available on, but there’s only one platform that you can literally stick in your pocket and it’s the iPhone that feels like the platform this was meant to be played on. Also it doesn’t hurt that the mobile version is basically “free" if you’re a Netflix subscriber, rather than the $20-30 it’s currently going for on PC and Switch.

But enough jibber jabber, what of the game itself? Well Dust & Neon is a roguelike looter shooter, kind of like an offspring of a Borderlands game and a Space Marshals game. The isometric viewpoint and overall sci-fi cowboy theme feels very Space Marshal-y, as does the much more tactical gunplay. Most games of this type are run ‘n gun blast fests but Dust & Neon actually plays much closer to a cover-based shooter.

You’ll need to utilize cover in the environment and wait to pop off shots when it’s clear, and if you get caught out in the open against multiple enemies they can make quick work of you if you aren’t careful. It’s not quite as tactical as a Space Marshals game and there’s no stealth elements or anything, but I do appreciate it for doing something a bit different in this particular genre.

The other hallmark of this type of game is the loot, and Dust & Neon doesn’t seem to disappoint here either. You only really have 3 main types of weapons–Revolver, Rifle, and Shotgun–but there are dozens of variations of each that you’ll find out in the field, from boring Common stuff to kick ass Legendary stuff. Then you have a huge upgrade tree to fill out for your character, and plenty of different things to unlock and upgrade at your home base, too.

Basically if you enjoy the core gameplay loop in Dust & Neon there should be plenty here to keep you busy for quite a while. I’m not sure how it will all hold up in the long run, and these games do tend to get kind of grindy in the late game, but right here and now I’m having a lot of fun with this one.

‘Devil May Cry: Peak of Combat’ Opens Pre-Registration with Beta Opportunities Coming Soon

Jared Nelson — Fri, 17 Feb 2023 00:05:35 +0000

Capcom and Nebula Joy have had a mobile entry in the famed Devil May Cry series in the works for quite some time now, with the game in question being in various states of testing or soft launch for at least the past couple of years. Now it looks like that game, Devil May Cry: Peak of Combat, is approaching a new milestone as the developers have just launched a pre-registration campaign. As with many mobile entries in popular console and PC series, Devil May Cry: Peak of Combat is sort of a mashup of several different mainline Devil May Cry games. It will feature multiple familiar playable characters including Dante, Nero, Vergil, and Lady. Here is a trailer showing the game in action.

As mentioned Devil May Cry: Peak of Combat has been available in various parts of the world already, and it seems like the general sentiment is that the game is enjoyable enough as fan service but much too watered down to really scratch the Devil May Cry itch while on the go. Long-time mobile games may remember the mobile version of Devil May Cry 4 that launched just over 12 years ago, and for what it was, especially at the time, I enjoyed it quite a bit. I guess it will be interesting to see another mobile take on the series in a mobile gaming landscape that is drastically different than it was back in 2011.

Those who pre-register for Devil May Cry: Peak of Combat on the game’s website will automatically be entered for a chance at participating in an upcoming closed beta, and whether you are picked for that or not all pre-registerers will earn rewards when an open beta kicks off sometime later this year.

Out Now: ‘Tomb Raider Reloaded’, ‘Myst Mobile’, ‘Linea: An Innerlight Game’, ‘Ten Dates’, ‘Isekai Rondo’, ‘Escape from Norwood’, ‘Beamed 2’ and More

Jared Nelson — Thu, 16 Feb 2023 07:19:23 +0000

Beamed 2 (Free)

iTunes Description

Beamed 2 is an optics Puzzle game with a retro synthwave vibe. Bend, reflect, merge and split laser beams until every Jewel sparkles!

Beamed 2 is a grid based puzzle game based upon simple principles of optics. Each puzzle includes up to three laser beams in colors red, green and blue. Drag and drop mirrors, beamsplitters and prisms onto the grid to blend, split and reflect beams onto Jewels of seven colors in order to make them sparkle.

When every Jewel is sparkling the puzzle is solved!

Forum Thread: Beamed 2 (by Squaretail Software)

Chloe Puzzle Game Pro ($1.99)

iTunes Description

Each level looks simple and playful with one motive: to get Chloe and Bunny to their red Targets; but the puzzles in them are unique and have a set of varying difficulties. The puzzles challenge your strategy, sokoban skills, experimenting how mechanical toys work, tactical thinking, improvising and much more. The difficulty increases with the level number and each level comes with 1 hint. Got stuck? Take the hint, find your way to the Target!

The game is packed with smooth retro beautiful hand crafted pixel art animations and 72 unique puzzles. It’s easy to understand and simple to play, but not so easy to solve. Your puzzle solving skills will be tested and the most important thing you will have the AHA! moment solving when each puzzle.

Forum Thread: Chloe Puzzle Game Pro (by Rojeh Maher)

Escape from Norwood ($5.99)

iTunes Description

A mobile text adventure set in a vivid open world where everyone has an agenda.

Explore the city and observe its inhabitants as their lives play out around you, in a world where the only discrimination is based on the order of birth.

Cursed with a magic which does not fit within the five cardinal aelic callings, 13-years old Lecia has to hide from the guards and find a way out of the city. Yet this magic will allow her to sneak into places and observe plots and schemes that could shake the foundations of Magistan, as the Empress’ progress approaches Norwood. What secret ties her family and the empire?

Forum Thread: Escape from Norwood (by Singular Works Studio)

Finding Hannah (Free)

iTunes Description

Hannah’s got it all: a well-paying job, a fancy coffee machine, and a comfortable life – so why isn’t she happy?Explore beautiful scenes and find hidden objects to learn more about the characters and their journey of self-discovery.

The story of a family: experience a light-hearted drama featuring three generations of women—their loves, their struggles, and their joys. Hannah is a woman searching for answers. She turns to her grandmother, Eva, and her mother, Sigrid, to find that each of them has her own unique story to tell. How are their hopes and dreams passed down through the generations?

Forum Thread: Finding Hannah (by Fein Games)

Isekai Rondo ($7.99)

iTunes Description

Quest for a parallel universe after being reborn with the ultimate job! An unparalleled parallel adventure!

Sho, a young man who spends his days in an exploitative company in modern Japan, is reincarnated into a parallel universe as Shaw, due to an accident!

While the job given in his new life is ‘Unemployed’ and hardships continue with a bad luck party, one day he acquires the ultimate job as a Sage, suddenly becoming the strongest with ultra rare passive skills!

Forum Thread: Isekai Rondo (by KEMCO/EXE-CREATE)

Kontra – Multiplayer FPS (Free)

iTunes Description

Fast-paced online shooter featuring multiple famous game modes!

Fast paced shooter features multiplayer zombie mode, surf online, deathrun online, deathmatch online and arms race online. Zombie mode includes different gameplay mechanics: zombie classes and various shop items. Deathrun mode includes knife types and day types.

Forum Thread: Kontra – Multiplayer FPS (by Oleg Sapovsky)

Legend of Puzzleverse (Free)

iTunes Description

Legend of Puzzleverse offers a unique Match-3 gameplay experience that combines the core features of 4x strategy and match-3 puzzle in a game where all heroes from your favorite tales gather to fight evil monsters in legendary battles to save the multiverse!

Meet historical heroes from different eras and myths in this new 4x march battle war game and build the strongest kingdom on the map.

When the evil Void Lord destroyed the key of time, wicked monsters invaded our world to destroy it. However, the power of the key broke all barriers of time and space, sending heroes from other worlds and timelines to our universe! You are the only one who can summon these heroes from the key shards to defend your kingdom and save the world. We depend on you!

Forum Thread: Legend of Puzzleverse (by Babil Games)

Linea: An Innerlight Game (Free)

iTunes Description

Linea is a beautiful game all about discovery, where narrative & puzzles meld together. Follow the flow of light & help each character as they journey through their own unique stories. Every puzzle you complete, a new line of dialogue is opened up and the story progresses. Each new story is completely unique from the last, with its own locations, characters and dialogue to explore.
Journey along with us through this series of short challenging puzzle stories.

Forum Thread: Linea: An Innerlight Game (by INFINITY GAMES)

Millionaire Trivia & Quiz Game (Free)

iTunes Description

Millionaire Trivia lets you experience the thrilling excitement of fighting for the grand prize of one million through 15 questions.
Just 15 answers to the questions to win 1 million!

In the new game mode “Super Millionaire" winnings increased to 5 million!

Forum Thread: Millionaire Trivia & Quiz Game (by Andrey Abrosimov)

Myst Mobile (Free)

iTunes Description

Journey to Myst Island and begin to unravel the mystery you have been thrust into. As you learn what happened on the island, you will find yourself playing a key role in an epic story whose ending has not yet been written.

The island is full of secrets – learn your surroundings and discover what you can interact with. Each puzzle you solve will bring you closer to exploring more of the island, and reveal methods to reach other stunning and surreal worlds called “Ages”.

Forum Thread: Myst Mobile (by Cyan Worlds)

Ninetails ($0.99)

iTunes Description

【Let’s do 10 laps!】
Circle the field 10 times before the dice run out!

【Cut off all the tails!】
Nine foxes are summoned in one round.
If there is already a fox, it will be leveled up.

Forum Thread: Ninetails- Simple Board Game (by Takahiro Ueda)

Samurai Shodown III ACA NEOGEO ($3.99)

iTunes Description

SAMURAI SHODOWN III is a fighting game released by SNK in 1995.
It is a sequel to SAMURAI SHODOWN II. You can now fill your Rage Gauge,
as well as block attacks mid-air. Player characters now have 2 styles to choose from: SLASH and BUST.
The ways of battle have greatly expanded.

Forum Thread: Samurai Shodown III ACA NEOGEO (by SNK)

Ten Dates (Free)

iTunes Description

Ten Dates is the sequel to the interactive rom-com, Five Dates. Misha, a millennial from London in search of that elusive in-person connection, tricks her best friend Ryan into going to a speed dating event with her. Each with their own five potential matches, Misha and Ryan must pluck up the courage and turn on the charm to date wildly different personalities.

Forum Thread: Ten Dates (by Wales Interactive)

Tomb Raider Reloaded (Free on App Store/Free on Netflix)

iTunes Description

You’re Lara Croft. Discover ancient relics, dodge hidden traps and wield her iconic twin pistols against fierce enemies in this globe-trotting adventure.

Travel through the golden, arch-shaped doors of the treacherous underground tombs, scattered across hazardous mountain caves, flourishing jungles and lush waterfalls.

Solve a wide variety of puzzles and face off against different enemies and bosses — both new and familiar to the Tomb Raider series — including bloodthirsty wolves, poisonous snakes, fearsome golems and magical elemental creatures!

Forum Thread: Tomb Raider Reloaded (by Netflix)

White Out Survival (Free)

iTunes Description

White Out Survival is the first-ever survival strategy game to center on a glacial apocalypse theme. Fascinating mechanics and intricate details await you to explore!

The catastrophic decline in global temperatures has wreaked havoc on human society. Those who have made it out of their crumbling homes are now faced with a new set of challenges: vicious blizzards, ferocious beasts, and opportunistic bandits looking to prey on their despair.

As the head of the last city in these icy wastes, you are the only hope for humanity’s continued existence. Can you successfully guide the survivors through the ordeal of adapting to the hostile environment and re-establishing civilization? The time for you to rise to the occasion is now!

Forum Thread: White Out Survival (by Century Games)

‘Tomb Raider Reloaded’ Now Available on Netflix Games and as a Regular Free to Play Release on iOS and Android

Jared Nelson — Wed, 15 Feb 2023 00:30:08 +0000

Back in November of 2020, Square Enix London and Emerald City Games announced a mysterious new title in the Tomb Raider series called Tomb Raider Reloaded. Not much was known about the game at that time other than it would focus on the “classic Lara Croft" from the earlier entries in the series and was being created from the ground up for mobile. We didn’t hear much about Tomb Raider Reloaded in the time since, but last year Square Enix sold off a bunch of their properties to Embracer Group including the Tomb Raider IP which were now housed under a new company called CDE Entertainment. Now more than two years after its original unveiling CDE and Emerald City have finally launched Tomb Raider Reloaded on iOS and Android devices. Here’s the launch trailer.

If you find yourself thinking “Hey, that looks a lot like Archero with a Tomb Raider skin" yep, you pretty much nailed it. And that’s not a bad thing? This style of bite-sized action and loot-upgrading loop fits rather well in the world of Lara Croft. As I mentioned during the game’s release date announcement a couple of weeks ago, Tomb Raider Reloaded has simultaneously launched as a regular free to play release on the iOS App Store and Google Play Store, but also as part of the Netflix Games library with a special Tomb Raider Reloaded Netflix edition.

Strangely though it seems like the only difference between these versions is that you can’t buy IAP in the Netflix one. There’s the same multiple currencies and energy system and other typical free to play stuff in the Netflix release, except it’s almost worse because if you DID feel like buying some IAP to help you advance or because you wanted to take advantage of the various limited time package deals they offer, you just straight up can’t. I fully admit I need to do some more investigating to see if there’s some sort of glaring differences that I’m not seeing yet, but as of right now this almost seems worse than a free to play game that gets rejiggered for Apple Arcade because I’m not really seeing any rejiggering at all.

That oddity aside though, Tomb Raider Reloaded is pretty fun. Each level is just a single room that can take anywhere from a handful of seconds to a minute to complete, which gives the game a nice breezy pace. It’s also surprisingly challenging and strategic as you need to take note of the different enemies and their attacks as well as environmental details and hazards, otherwise your run can end real quick. A near-constant flow of new weapons, equipment, and upgrades keeps the dopamine hits coming, and there’s even a real-deal Lara Croft adventure storyline tying it all together. I can’t say for sure which version I recommend you stick with, and if anyone can determine the major differences between the regular releases and the Netflix one please do let me know, but one way or another Tomb Raider Reloaded is definitely worth checking out.

Eli’s Repairman Never Showed – The TouchArcade Show #549

Jared Nelson — Sat, 11 Feb 2023 01:30:52 +0000

In this week’s episode of The TouchArcade Show we kick things off with some discussion around the newly-released Hogwart’s Legacy and all the drama surrounding anything Harry Potter. Then we dive into this week’s Nintendo Direct which was filled with a lot of big, if a little predictable, news and announcements. Next we tackle some reader emails, which are not only filled with nice things about our little podcast, but also launch us into a variety of topics that carry the entire second half of the show. Thank you to everyone who sent us an email, I’m not lying when I say I teared up a bit!

Stitcher: The TouchArcade Show via Stitcher Radio for Podcasts
RSS Feed: The TouchArcade Show
Direct Link: TouchArcadeShow-549.mp3

TouchArcade Game of the Week: ‘Endling: Extinction is Forever’

Jared Nelson — Sat, 11 Feb 2023 01:04:37 +0000

I have to tip my hat to HandyGames, they seem intent on bringing well-loved games on other platforms over to mobile as no-compromise premium releases, and I am so here for it. Their latest is Endling: Extinction is Forever from Herobeat Studios which only launched on PC and consoles just last year. There’s no easy way to say this: Endling is a bummer. This is a game with a very sad message, and plenty of sad moments. However, it’s a powerful game that’s also filled with quite a few genuinely touching and positive moments. Just make sure you’re in the right kind of headspace to play something like this.

So you are the last surviving fox on the planet, and the game opens with you frantically escaping a raging forest fire. A fire being purposely ignited by humans, I should add. Once you scramble to a safe hideout for the night you collapse, and it’s then that we discover you are actually a very pregnant fox who gives birth to 4 little pups. Adorable pups, I should add. Your job is to leave your hideout during the relative safety of nighttime in order to find food for your pups, and before too long they’ll grow enough to join you on these quests.

Endling is a survival game, for both you and your pups. There are many, many ways for any of you to die at a moment’s notice, and the game is comfortable not holding your hand and letting you discover these dangers on your own. There’s a huge map to explore with many new types of environments to encounter, but you’ll only have a short time to do so as the nighttime only lasts so long. So mechanically the game comes down to handling your crucial business to keep you and your family safe and fed, and then exploring just a little bit further and further every chance you get.

It all makes for a very satisfying loop. I’m also a big fan of Endling’s stylized art, even if it is depicting a series of increasingly depressing situations. This is a very gloomy world, but that also makes the moments of brightness where you find hope and love with your pups shine that much brighter. The “humans bad, destroy planet" message can be a little heavy handed at times, but also, where’s the lie? Even if humans aren’t maliciously destroying parts of our planet, there’s still a real cost to Earth’s other living creatures that’s very worth taking into consideration. Endling does a great job at getting that point across, even if the reality of it is a major downer.

‘Myst Mobile’ is Now Available on iOS for Free with a Limited Time Launch Discount for the Full Game Unlock IAP

Jared Nelson — Thu, 09 Feb 2023 21:06:56 +0000

In late 2020 developer Cyan Worlds released Myst for virtual reality platforms, a full 3D remake of their landmark 1993 adventure title of the same name built entirely in 3D using the Unreal Engine, allowing players to free roam the lands of Myst like never before. The following year that VR version was adapted for normal screens and released across PC and console platforms, and as we learned just last week, that version was also on its way to iOS. Well today is the big day iOS gamers, as the game officially titled Myst Mobile is now available. Here is a trailer from the PC version’s release to give you an idea of what it’s like in action.

This isn’t the first time the original Myst’s static pre-rendered environments have been brought into the 3rd dimension, as realMyst aimed to do that more than 20 years ago. However, technology has advanced just a wee little bit since then, and the gorgeous Unreal Engine version of these classic environments is nothing short of stunning in this latest Myst remake. The Myst series itself is also no stranger to mobile, as the original was ported to mobile way back in 2009 and its sequel Riven followed in 2010. Then in 2012 realMyst joined the mobile party. If you’re a geek like me and love seeing before and after comparisons of different versions and remakes of the same game, then this video from the Game Intros & Finales Youtube channel should be right up your alley.

As for this new Myst Mobile release, it’s very easy and economical to experience it for yourself. The game is free to download and includes Myst Island in its entirety for you to explore and play through to your heart’s content, with no time limit or anything. A one-time $14.99 IAP will unlock the full game featuring the rest of the Ages of Myst, but as a special launch promotion that full unlock IAP is 33% off and just $9.99. The only caveat is that you’ll need a fairly recent device to play the game as it only supports those with an A12 Bionic chip or above, which also includes any M1 or M2 devices. You’ll also find a bunch of control options including gamepad support and keyboard and trackpad support for the iPad Smart & Magic Folios. It’s free to check out for yourself, so don’t hesitate to give this new Myst Mobile release a go right now.

Out Now: ‘Endling: Extinction is Forever’, ‘Daily Dadish’, ‘Happy Game :)’, ‘Janken Samurai’, ‘Millie and Molly’, ‘Sengoku 3 ACA NEOGEO’ and More

Jared Nelson — Thu, 09 Feb 2023 04:17:18 +0000

Buttons – Puzzling Notions (Free)

iTunes Description

Only got a minute or two? Buttons is perfect for quick play sessions and has a chill, relaxing vibe.

Simple to learn, but difficult to master, it’s a puzzle game all about placing buttons.

Your goal is to get 4 in a row of either black or white buttons, but there’s a twist: sometimes buttons flip colors.

Each match adds time to the clock. See how high you can score!

Forum Thread: Buttons – Puzzling Notions (by Beep Yeah! Games)

Daily Dadish (Free)

iTunes Description

It’s an adventure that lasts a whole year! Daily Dadish is a retro platformer that features over 365 handcrafted levels – one for every day of the year! Each level is only playable for one day, so beat them while you can. Face challenging foes, unlock cool characters, and help reunite Dadish with his missing kids all over again!

Forum Thread: Daily Dadish (by Thomas Young)

Delicious in Dungeon (Free)

iTunes Description

A simple, easy to play roguelike game where all you have to do is choose which way to go, left or right!
Each game takes about 30 minutes to play, but with the auto-save feature, you can play even if you have only 3 minutes to spare.

Forum Thread: Delicious in Dungeon (by Hirokazu Horie)

Endling: Extinction is Forever ($9.99)

iTunes Description

Will a mother fox manage to keep its little cubs alive? Experience a world ravaged by mankind through the eyes of the last fox on Earth in this eco-conscious adventure. Discover the destructive force of the human race, as it corrupts, pollutes, and exploits the most precious and valuable resources of the natural environment day by day.

Explore various 3D side-scrolling areas and defend your tiny furballs, feed them, watch them grow up, notice their unique personalities and fears, and most importantly, help them to survive. Use the cover of the night to stealthily guide your litter toward a safer place. Spend the day resting in an improvised shelter and plan your next move carefully since it could be the last for you and your cubs.

Forum Thread: Endling: Extinction is Forever (by HandyGames)

Happy Game ($5.99)

iTunes Description

A little boy falls asleep to a horrible nightmare. Can you make him happy again?

– Brand new psychedelic horror adventure from the creators of Botanicula and CHUCHEL
– Endure and escape three unforgettable nightmares
– Solve deeply disturbing puzzles in (not so) charming environments
– Deal with suspicious smiley faces and pink bunnies
– Creepy songs and screeches from the Czech freakfolk band DVA

Forum Thread: Happy Game (by Amanita Design)

Janken Samurai (Free)

iTunes Description

A rock/paper/scissors style duel against the best samurai in all the Five Islands.

Work your way through the ranks (1st Dan, 5th Dan, and 10th Dan) in the arena. Bring those skills to the life and death Shikatsu mode and compete on the online leaderboard against players from around the world.

Forum Thread: Janken Samurai (by Good Good Games)

Luminosus (Free)

iTunes Description

Luminosus is a unique and challenging puzzle game that combines the fun of matching colors with the strategic gameplay of Tetris. In Luminosus, players must match 4 or more blocks of the same color to score points or combine them into other colors to score even bigger.

With its simple but addictive gameplay, Luminosus offers hours of entertainment and a twist on the classic Tetris experience.

Forum Thread: Luminosus (by Maxim Frisk Consulting AB)

Millie and Molly ($1.99)

iTunes Description

Millie and Molly is a retro-inspired puzzle platformer that will put your problem-solving skills to the test. Can you guide our fearless heroines through 100 themed levels to defeat the malicious monsters that stand in their way?
Use your wits to work out the best route and complete each level. Reunite the sisters, then swap between them to navigate mind-bending puzzles. If you make a mistake, simply use the rewind feature to try a different approach!
Featuring retro-inspired graphics and music, and five uniquely themed zones, Millie and Molly will take you on an adventure like no other!

Forum Thread: Millie and Molly (by Thalamus Digital)

The Salt Keep ($4.99)

iTunes Description

A novel-length text adventure (RPG meets CYOA) full of mystery and danger. Make choices and explore as you struggle to survive in a world of medieval fantasy and horror.

The Salt Keep is a text adventure (think interactive fiction with Choose Your Own Adventure and RPG mechanics) and should feel familiar to fans of classic gamebooks and fantasy fiction in general.

Forum Thread: The Salt Keep (by Alec Noller)

Sengoku 3 ACA NEOGEO ($3.99)

iTunes Description

SENGOKU 3 is a side-scrolling action game released by SNK in 2001.
In order to purge malicious souls, Shinobi travel the world to defeat the undead.
Cut, smash, throw, and use weapons as well as Ninja Arts and Ultimate Ninja Arts in this hyper-action ninja game.

Forum Thread: Sengoku 3 ACA NEOGEO (by SNK)

SuperTrucks Offroad Racing (Free)

iTunes Description

SuperTrucks Offroad Racing is an off-road racing game inspired by the top down racing games from the arcade era.

TOUGH OFF ROAD RACING CONDITIONS
Race in challening off-road racing conditions such as sand, mud, snow and tarmac!

BONUS EVENTS
Attempt the LONG JUMP, TIME TRIAL and OBSTACLE COURSE events between races!

CUSTOMISE YOUR TRUCK
Change the look of your off road truck with a selection of paints, decals and tyre sets ranging from common to legendary!

Forum Thread: SuperTrucks Offroad Racing (by Meltdown Interactive Media)

FMV Action Adventure ‘Mia and the Dragon Princess’ Arrives in April, New Trailer and Steam Demo Released

Jared Nelson — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 21:39:08 +0000

In July of last year prolific FMV game developer and publisher Wales Interactive announced a new FMV game titled Mia and the Dragon Princess. The story here is that you’ll play as waitress Mia, who is feeling tired of her humdrum life but hesitant to do anything about it for fear of alienating her coworkers who are basically her family. One day her life gets turned upside down when a woman shows up to Mia’s work while on the run from a group of dangerous thugs. Mia decides to help the woman, who doesn’t speak any English, and ends up embroiled in her troubles as well. This is an action-packed story as you can see in the very first trailer for Mia and the Dragon Princess.

All that action comes from some renowned figures including world-renowned fight coordinator Marcus Shakesheff who has previously worked on WonderWoman, Guardians of the Galaxy, Game of Thrones, and more; and fight stunts by Taekwondo instructor and content creator ‘Ginger Ninja Trickster’ aka Aaron Gassor. Alongside this new trailer comes a brand new PC demo on Steam as part of the Steam Next Fest which runs through February 13th, as well as a release date announcement: Mia and the Dragon Princess will be arriving on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Series X|S, Switch, iOS and Android on April 21st, so in the meantime be sure to check out the PC demo while it’s live.

Here’s Your Stinkin’ Proof of Life – The TouchArcade Show #548

Jared Nelson — Sat, 04 Feb 2023 07:20:20 +0000

Yes, we are alive. After taking most of December off from recording we did our big end of year show with the intention of coming back in full force in the new year, but instead we just sort of… took another month off. I really apologize to those who look forward to our show each week. As was the case in December I had a ton of stuff going on with moving back into our house and recording just never worked out when we needed it too. On top of that I’ve been dealing with deteriorating mental health and other personal issues, and, well, let’s just say that our mostly unplanned 2 month-ish hiatus has been a good break.

But! I totally missed you guys, and missed my weekly BS session with Eli, so now I’m really hoping we’ll be back on track to recording every week again. As for this week’s episode, it’s full of our special brand of irreverent discussion about all sorts of gaming and non-gaming topics like the Playdate’s stagnation, the Analogue Pocket’s long-road to awesomeness, fish tanks, and more. We even talk about mobile games a bit, which reminded me that that is in fact what this podcast is supposed to be about. So sit back, relax, enjoy the show, and hopefully we’ll see you next week and every week after.

Stitcher: The TouchArcade Show via Stitcher Radio for Podcasts
RSS Feed: The TouchArcade Show
Direct Link: TouchArcadeShow-548.mp3

TouchArcade Game of the Week: ‘1 Bit Survivor’

Jared Nelson — Sat, 04 Feb 2023 07:02:30 +0000

Well, if you’ve been following TouchArcade for a while and you generally have an idea of what our tastes are, then this week’s pick shouldn’t really be much of a surprise. Cool retro-style pixel graphics? Dungeon crawling mechanics? Roguelike elements? Yes, it’s all here in 1 Bit Survivor from solo indie developer Chaz Acheronti. There were several really great releases this week, but man, this one just screams “TA game" and as usual it’s the game that I keep coming back to that always ends up as our Game of the Week pick.

First off, I love the premise here. You play as a survivor in a zombie apocalypse, but in 28 days the government is going to drop some sort of mega bomb in an effort to wipe out all the zombies, and anything else that might be standing in its blast. That includes you, and given the dire state of the world, you kind of are ready to just accept your fate. But then… you meet a cat named Leo. All of a sudden you have a friend. Someone who loves you, someone to care for. Now that you have a purpose letting your self die in a zombie-eradicating explosion doesn’t sound so appealing anymore, so you pack up Leo and find some wheels and try to make it to a bunker in the city before those 28 days are over.

In 1 Bit Survivor each level counts as a day, so essentially your goal is to survive and make it through all 28 levels. Gameplay is like a turn-based top-down dungeon crawler. Levels aren’t all that large but your visibility is limited, so you’ll need to explore a bit with the main goal of finding a gas can so you can return to your vehicle and move on to the next level/day. Of course enemies abound so you’ll need to make careful and strategic use of your limited ammo and health to deal with them. This may include defeating them, or just avoiding them altogether. Like many great roguelikes death can come extremely quick if you aren’t careful.

A member in our forums described this game as “like a 1 bit version of Death Road to Canada" and that actually does track really well. However, with the single screen levels, turn-based combat and movement, very tactical resource management, and sparse mechanics that have a lot of hidden depth, I also get a heavy Michael Brough vibe from 1 Bit Survivor. That alone might be a selling point to you, but why even take my word for it? This one is totally free with ads and a one-time IAP to remove those ads if you find them pesky. Just try this sucker yourself and I dare you not to fall in love with Leo.

Out Now: ‘Valiant Hearts: Coming Home’, ‘Pompom: The Great Space Rescue’, ‘Princess Farmer’, ‘Avatar Generations’, ‘Fork’d Mountain Biking’, ‘1 Bit Survivor’, ‘Dungeon Ward’ and More

Jared Nelson — Thu, 02 Feb 2023 06:44:31 +0000

1 Bit Survivor (Free)

iTunes Description

1 Bit Survivor is an easy to play but difficult to master randomly generated rogue-like with stylized pixel art and survival horror elements. Fight to survive 28 Days of the Zed-pocalypse and save your pet Cat!

STORY
An unstoppable virus has destroyed humanity. Many turned into mutants. The rest fight for their life. Drive your car across the country to reach the underground bunker and survive.
Will you make it to the end? Or succumb to the monster threat?

Forum Thread: 1 Bit Survivor (by Chaz Acheronti)

Avatar Generations (Free)

iTunes Description

Join the Gaang! Create your own Team Avatar with all your favorite heroes from Avatar: The Last Airbender, and soon Avatars from other generations! The likes of Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph, Suki and Zuko and the much-loved Appa and Momo, all await you to join the Avatar’s quest to fulfill his destiny, for the first time on mobile.

Forum Thread: Avatar Generations (by SQUARE ENIX)

Card Brawl: Dungeon Slayer (Free)

iTunes Description

Choose your path in procedurally generated dungeons and employ unique strategies with each playthrough! Slay your way to the Elite Boss at the end of each dungeon to unlock new cards for your collection and carve your name in history as the top ranked card brawler across Aragonia! Immerse yourself in a turn-based Roguelike CCG like no other, where you must randomly draft cards as you progress through each spire, testing the limits of your wit and skill with each battle.

Collect powerful cards to create epic combos, wield masterful strategies by unlocking mighty heroes and their unique skills, gear up heroes with legendary equipment and turn the tides of battle across PvE and PvP by unleashing a well-timed spell! In Card Brawl you draft cards as you progress making each level more interesting than the last!

Forum Thread: Card Brawl: Dungeon Slayer (by cloudcade)

Color Sign (Free)

iTunes Description

Color Sign challenges your mind and tests your reflexes.

How To Play?Tap on the screen to stop the arrow where the color match. The faster you match, the higher your score. Sounds easy? Can you score 20? Race against time as you compete for the best score on the global leaderboard.

Forum Thread: Color Sign (by Vikas Pawar)

Dungeon Ward (Free)

iTunes Description

Action RPG mixed with grid-based Dungeon Crawler
Dungeon Ward belongs to a genre of a single player roguelike rpg offline games for free but it is mixed with old-school grid-based dungeon crawler (gridder) innovated by a modern 3rd person perspective. It’s diablo like features are real-time combat, looting, RPG character building, questing and boss fights.

Forum Thread: Dungeon Ward: RPG offline game (by Frantisek Liska)

Fantasy Realms by Wizkids ($4.99)

iTunes Description

As ruler, it’s up to you to build the mightiest realm in the world! Will you choose to follow military tactics and sweep away all in your path with a massive army? Will you turn towards sorcery and control an inaccessible island surrounded by impenetrable flames? The choice is yours, no two realms will ever be the same in Fantasy Realms.

Fantasy Realms takes seconds to learn: draw a card, discard a card. Though in this case you can draw from the deck or the discard area!

Make the best hand you can by making the best combos. Game ends when there are 10 cards in the discard area. Aim for the highest score.

Forum Thread: Fantasy Realms by Wizkids (by BrettspielWelt)

Fork’d Mountain Biking (Free)

iTunes Description

Race down the open world trails of Fork’d MTB, the most satisfying mountain biking game on mobile! Play now for FREE! Customize your rider with gear, parts, frames and more!
–
Explore around the mountain and race against the ghost on all the timed trails up to the summit. Can you be the fastest rider on Fork’d Peak? Get the best time on all the runs and finish the adventure to become the Mountain Bike GOAT!

Forum Thread: Fork’d Mountain Biking (by MakeShift Digital)

Forward: Escape the Fold ($1.99)

iTunes Description

Forward is an innovative game in which you will progress through a procedurally-generated dungeon in the form of cards. Move your character from one card to another and keep going forward while avoiding attacking enemies. However be careful, each card will have specific effects making each move important and strategic.

Your goal is to clear the 8 levels of a dungeon, each level getting increasingly difficult. In order to succeed, you will have to choose which move to make, which item to pick and use your skills. Each choice is critical.

Take advantage of many items combinations and build the best character possible based on your goal and the cards you’ll come across.

Forum Thread: Forward: Escape the Fold (by Christophe Coyard)

Hacker the Beginning ($0.99)

iTunes Description

A story full of adventure and action awaits you. Prove that you are a real hacker. Break through firewalls, infiltrate systems and complete missions.

Discover the vulnerabilities of the digital world. Prove that all systems are unreliable by exploiting the weaknesses of technology. Your goal is to find vulnerabilities in systems, crack passwords, hack into networks, steal data and use it to discover important information to reach the end of the story.

Are you ready to feel like a real hacker with the game’s amazing scenario and comic book style cutscenes! Follow the events that happen to three friends. Remember. There is a reason for every mission and we will bring justice. Hacker Prologue is the perfect choice for players interested in the mysterious world of hackers and digital systems.

Forum Thread: Hacker the Beginning (by Furkan Yurtsever)

MIR M (Free)

iTunes Description

While faithfully inheriting the style of classic MMORPGs including artworks that reflect the world of the MIR IP, isometric viewpoint, and 8-directional grid, the game also implemented successful features of MIR4. At the same time, MIR M’s unique content and systems were added to create a new experience that is the vast Mir continent.

Forum Thread: MIR M (by Wemade Co)

Pasha Planet: Reborn ($1.99)

iTunes Description

“Pasha Planet: Reborn” is the debut game of Scorpio Game, a Taiwanese independent game development studio. Prepare to be charmed by unique hand-painted scenes and have fun with light detective work, players will get to explore the main game plot that revolves around the characters’ daily life through an immersive and one-of-a-kind puzzle-solving gameplay.

Forum Thread: Pasha Planet: Reborn (by ScorpioGame)

Pickle Pete: Survival RPG (Free)

iTunes Description

A mysterious substance has turned Pete into a pickle!

Darkness has settled over the world, and our hero must find a way to survive against the waves of evil forces. Stack up, gear up, and create countless combinations of unique builds to become stronger than your enemies. Find the antidote and save the world!

Forum Thread: Pickle Pete: Survival RPG (by Frojo Apps)

Pompom: The Great Space Rescue (Free)

iTunes Description

In a whole new kind of puzzle-action platformer, you do not control Pompom the hamster, but instead use your quick thinking to help him by placing and controlling platforms, obstacles and items around him. Analyze and use everything that comes your way: build bridges, place springs, prune vines… Be clever, be quick, be efficient. Travel through outer space to beaches full of flying fish, to ancient temples lost in the jungle, as you help Pompom outsmart his enemies and rescue his boy Hoshi from Captain Cat and his crew.

Forum Thread: Pompom: The Great Space Rescue (by Plug In Digital)

Princess Farmer (Free)

iTunes Description

Princess Farmer is a match3 puzzle and visual novel game with easy to learn action mechanics and different playstyles that let you breeze through the game or challenge you. All three of the playstyles earn you rewards! The story is played in episodes, much like magical-girl anime, with each lasting between 20 minutes to 1 hour, depending on your chosen playstyle, your skills, and whether you decide to skip dialogue interactions. Different level goals keep you on your toes and bring a fresh approach to the match3 genre. Dialogue options let you choose how Princess Farmer interacts with her friends, affecting your relationships with them. Make them your BFF and they may reward you with gifts!

Forum Thread: Princess Farmer (by Samobee Games & Whitethorn Digital)

Retro Arcade for Watch (Free)

iTunes Description

Retro Arcade is a FREE collection of classic arcade games on your wrist and on your phone!

Includes the following games:
• Kepler Attack – featured in Apple’s “Great on watchOS 6" and “Our Favourite Apple Watch Apps" collections!
• Asteroid Commando – Touch Arcade’s Game of the Week!
• Red Baron 1917 – battle fleets of enemy planes in this WWI shooter.
• Jet Attack – a brand new shooter set above a city as you battle UFOs.

Forum Thread: Retro Arcade for Watch (by Red Sprite Studios)

Rise of the Footsoldier: The Mobile Game ($3.99)

iTunes Description

Football Hooligans, Bent cops, and Yacht-owning psychopaths – Rise of the Footsoldier: The Mobile Game unleashes the mayhem of the movies upon players!

Play as one of the three anti-heroes. Players can collect and choose from a range of individual weapons, as they progress through each level, smashing their way through assorted gangsters, football hooligans, and bent cops to take on series antagonists Fisher and Greener in a new Footsoldier story. Players must utilise speed and fighting skills to avoid enemies, and engage in intense open combat to prove who is really in charge!

Forum Thread: Rise of the Footsoldier: The Mobile Game (by Carnaby International)

Roterra 4 – Magical Revolution ($4.99)

iTunes Description

DiG-iT! Games presents the newest member of the Roterra® family: Roterra 4—Magical Revolution. This new installment of the chart-topping series offers 35 levels of all new hand-built puzzles that intensify the perspective challenging journey through this fairytale world of gravity twists, scrambled paths and rotating blocks. 70+ unique puzzles await the player as they travel through mysterious lava-filled caves, explore icy extremes and devastating deserts, and interact with the world of Roterra in new ways. Ride polar bears, fend off attacking scorpions and spin your world upside down with new mechanics in new environments.

Forum Thread: Roterra 4 – Magical Revolution (by Dig-It Games)

Super Mega Lucky Box ($2.99)

iTunes Description

In this spectacular game of colossal fun, reveal numbers one-by-one and close a corresponding square on one of your cards. Your goal is to score as many points as possible, and you’ll do that mostly by crossing off the nine numbers printed in a 3×3 grid. Get three-in-a-row to unlock bonuses, which can help you close more squares and trigger even more bonuses. Use Lightning tokens to nudge numbers to your liking, but don’t forget about Moon tokens to avoid an end-game penalty.

At the end of a round, you score points for each card that you’ve completely marked off, with the points diminishing each round from 15 in round one to 8 in round four. After four rounds, you score 1 point for each two spaces Xed on unfinished cards. Together with your points from completed cards, stars and moons, this determines your total score.

Forum Thread: Super Mega Lucky Box (by BrettspielWelt)

Valiant Hearts: Coming Home (Free)

iTunes Description

As World War I rages on, two brothers fight to survive the trenches and find each other again. Their paths will cross with new heroes who will share in the joy of reuniting and surviving the horrors of the Western Front.

Valiant Hearts: Coming Home is the second installment of the BAFTA Award-winning game Valiant Hearts: The Great War. This sequel will follow in the footsteps of the original game and continue to tell stories of ordinary people thrust into the extraordinary circumstances of World War I.

Forum Thread: Valiant Hearts: Coming Home (by Ubisoft Entertainment)

World Heroes 2 Jet ACA NEOGEO ($3.99)

iTunes Description

WORLD HEROES 2 JET is a fighting game released by SNK in 1994.
It is the third title in the WORLD HEROES series. Sixteen heroes, villains, and other fighters have gathered to determine who is the strongest in the world.
With dashes, back steps, and the addition of a counter system, you can enjoy speedy battles.

Forum Thread: World Heroes 2 Jet ACA NEOGEO (by SNK)

Zold:out Global (Free)

iTunes Description

Zold:out is a semi-turn-based tactical RPG fused with deck building. You will use multiple weapons in one turn to challenge powerful enemies in a non-grid battlefield. Recruit clerks, forge weapons, and save the world with your strategy and creativity!

Forum Thread: Zold:out Global (by C4Cat Entertainment)

‘Tomb Raider Reloaded’ Coming to iOS, Android, and Netflix on February 14th, Pre-Registration Open Now

Jared Nelson — Wed, 01 Feb 2023 22:11:58 +0000

Today CDE Entertainment and Emerald City Games announced that their new game in the hallowed Tomb Raider series titled Tomb Raider Reloaded will finally be releasing following its original announcement back in the fall of 2020. This is a game developed explicitly for mobile and it features the classic-style Lara Croft in a forward-advancing, top-down shooting, roguelike-ish experience very very similar to the popular Archero. This also serves as a celebration of the entire Tomb Raider franchise which has been chugging along for more than 25 years, so you can expect to play through familiar locations and run into some familiar faces from throughout the series. Lara will also be voiced by Keeley Hawes who has voiced the hero numerous times before in games like Tomb Raider: Legend, Tomb Raider: Anniversary, Tomb Raider: Underworld, Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, and more. Here’s the Tomb Raider Reloaded trailer.

Interestingly, the press release for Tomb Raider Reloaded mentions that the game will be coming to iOS, Android, and also Netflix all on the same day. Presumably this means there will be a regular release on the iOS and Android app stores, as well as a special second version released just for Netflix subscribers. I know Netflix games have often been previously released mobile titles, but I can’t recall any actually launching the same day as their regular release counterparts. At any rate the Netflix version, just like all Netflix Games releases, won’t have any ads or IAP but you will need a Netflix subscription to play. Interested players can unlock special rewards by pre-registering ahead of the game’s planned February 14th release. iOS users can submit their email on the game’s website to pre-register, while Android players can do so directly on the Google Play Store.

Side-Scrolling Character Action Game ‘The Legend of Tianding’ is Heading to iOS in March, Available for Pre-Order Now

Jared Nelson — Wed, 01 Feb 2023 01:00:54 +0000

Released on PC a bit over a year ago, The Legend of Tianding is a side-scrolling action game based on the real-life “Taiwanese Robin Hood" Liao Tianding, and it is heading to iOS devices in the very near future. During the late 1800s when Taiwan was under Japanese occupation, Liao Tianding was known for fighting back against oppressive rulers and robbing from the rich to help the poor. He has become a legendary folk hero in Taiwanese culture and has been the subject of numerous films, TV shows, stories, and in 2004 a popular Flash game. It’s that original Flash game that, in conjunction with its original creator, served as the basis for 2021’s The Legend of Tianding which has gone on to become a major fan-favorite and even earn itself several awards since its release. Here’s the trailer.

As is common with me and PC games, The Legend of Tianding didn’t immediately ring a bell, but upon checking its Steam page I noticed I already had it on my Wishlist, so I must have come across it at some point in time and thought it seemed cool enough to keep tabs on. That makes me extra excited that it’s coming to iOS since the chances of me actually getting around to trying it are 100% on iOS compared to the hundreds and hundreds of games I have on my Steam Wishlist that I may never find time for. The iOS version will support physical controllers and will run at 120 frames per second on any iPhone 13 Pro and above devices. Action games like this are one of my favorite genres, and the combat here in particular looks exquisite, so if you feel the same as I do then you can pre-order The Legend of Tianding on the iOS App Store right now for $6.99 and its listed expected release date is March 2nd.

Apple’s 2022 iPhone Game of the Year ‘Apex Legends Mobile’ Shutting Down in May

Jared Nelson — Tue, 31 Jan 2023 23:40:55 +0000

Well here is some news that I was not exactly prepared for. Respawn Entertainment has announced that they’ll be sunsetting Apex Legends Mobile on May 1st, just shy of a year from its official global launch. They cite the quality bar for content, as well as frequency of new content, being below what they consider acceptable. And so in mutual agreement with their development partner, presumably Tencent and their subsidiary studios, they have decided to wind the game down over the next 90 days with the game becoming fully unplayable at 4pm PDT on May 1st, 2023. As for what players can expect until then, as of right now the game is no longer available on the iOS or Android app stores and all in-app purchases have been disabled. Any virtual currency players already have can be spent up until the point of servers going offline on May 1st, however there will be no refunds offered.

This is a pretty surprising development. Just two months ago Apple chose Apex Legends Mobile as their iPhone Game of the Year for 2022, and all signs pointed to it being a fairly successful game. And while it only just launched globally on May of last year, it had been in development for at least a couple of years prior to that, going through all manner of different beta tests and soft launches. I can’t even imagine the amount of money and resources that were poured into Apex Legends Mobile’s development, so to see it go down less than a year after global launch is pretty shocking. On the other hand, these live service games are extremely expensive to host and maintain, and even if it was a popular game, it’s certainly possible it just plain wasn’t popular enough or being monetized well enough to continue on with. It’s a real shame, and for anyone who is an active Apex Legends Mobile player my heart goes out to you and hopefully you can have some fun for the next few months before the game’s lights go out in May.

“The Clan of the Squirrel” DLC Now Available in Viking Strategy Game ‘Northgard’ on Mobile

Jared Nelson — Tue, 31 Jan 2023 20:43:01 +0000

A couple of weeks ago the news dropped that Playdigious would be bringing a new DLC pack to Northgard on mobile, and today is that day. Originally developed by Shiro Games, Northgard is a strategy game with elements of Norse mythology where you play a clan of Vikings settling and expanding their territories. It has been a huge hit on PC and console, and back in 2021 Playdigious did a wonderful job of bringing the experience to mobile, where it felt especially well-suited. The mobile version has been playing catch-up a bit in terms of content compared to other platforms, and today’s Clan of the Squirrel DLC brings in a new playable clan that specializes in cooking, and the delectable items you create can go towards boosting your own clansmen or even manipulating your enemies to your own benefit.

As already mentioned, Northgard is a really fantastic strategy game that works super well on mobile. The base game will set you back eight bucks as of this writing and has dozens of hours of content to play through, not to mention online multiplayer which was added shortly after its mobile release. If that somehow isn’t enough, there are numerous DLC packs to choose from to offer totally new ways to experience the game. These are generally $2.99 a pop though there are also bundles available which can save you a bit of dough. This new Clan of the Squirrel pack is also $2.99 and it is available right now in Northgard on both iOS and Android app stores.

TouchArcade Game of the Week: ‘Madness/Endless’

Jared Nelson — Sat, 28 Jan 2023 05:21:24 +0000

Sometimes a game comes along that feels so purely built for mobile, and its controls and mechanics come together so well on the touchscreen, I say that Apple should just pre-install it on every iPhone it sells. I very much feel that way about Madness/Endless from developer Anthony Romano aka PokeTheAnt, except… well maybe this one is a bit too gory and disturbing to be a default app on the iPhone. Apple would be getting quite a few angry calls about that I’d imagine. However, for those seeking out a truly well-designed action stealth game that somehow can be played entirely with one thumb, Madness/Endless is your ticket.

This game could kind of be described as a top-down dungeon crawler. You’ll move from room to room clearing each of enemies in order to open the way forward, occasionally collecting items, talking with NPCs, or fighting bosses along the way. Movement is what’s truly unique here. There’s a virtual joystick that lets you slowly crawl along the walls of the room, mostly as a way to set yourself up for the meat of the gameplay which is slingshotting yourself. You can do this by swiping in the direction you want to go, or by holding down on the screen to bring up an aiming arrow and then letting go to launch yourself in the direction of the arrow.

Both of these options are useful as sometimes you just want to bounce around quickly and precision isn’t important, but sometimes you want to absolutely line up where you need to go by using the aiming arrow. The real star of this show though is your ability to slingshot mid-slingshot. While you’re flying through the air just hold down on the screen again and time will slow down allowing you to re-aim and relaunch yourself in a different direction. By doing this you can pinball around a room and take out multiple enemies all in one go, making for these incredibly satisfying combos. Seriously, once you get a hang of things you’ll wish this was how movement was in every video game you played, it’s that fun.

There’s quite a bit more to Madness/Endless, like the interesting story, the freakish monsters, two different endings AND an unlockable endless mode. Oh, and I didn’t even touch on the stealth components yet. This is a pretty fast action type of game blended with a stealth game, and somehow it works! There’s probably too much stuff to get into right this moment, but all you really need to know is that if anything I’ve described sounds interesting to you, or you just dig the very grim and unsettling vibe of this game, I think you’ll more than get your handful of dollar’s worth out of Madness/Endless.

‘Of Two Minds’, a Psychoanalytical FMV Game First Filmed in 1989, is Heading to iOS Devices

Jared Nelson — Fri, 27 Jan 2023 00:06:27 +0000

We are truly in the renaissance of full-motion video games since the genre first arrived in the late ’80s and early ’90s before dying an ugly death due to the poor quality of those gaming experiences as well as the poor quality of the actual video itself. Nowadays resolutions are nice and high, filming equipment is affordable and readily available, and digital distribution means you aren’t compressing your precious game to high heaven in order to cram it on a CD-ROM. This has meant lots of very good quality FMV games have released over the last decade or so, and continue to release at a decent clip.

One new one on the horizon is called Of Two Minds from Burgeon & Flourish, a game where the player will psychoanalyze various characters and their personal lives while pinpointing connections and motivations between them. In a very interesting twist, all the footage in Of Two Minds was filmed by Burgeon & Flourish founder Michael Bergmann back in 1989 but was never used until this upcoming game. That means that not only does the game take place in a late 1980s New York City, but its content is actually authentically from that era. Check out the trailer.

I’m definitely intrigued by the thought of psychoanalyzing this cast of characters, but I’m also really drawn in by the entire concept behind reviving 30+ year old footage and then making it into a brand new FMV game. Bergmann says he filmed more than 3 hours of footage back in 1989, but seemingly not with the intent of having branching stories or different endings like many FMV games nowadays. However, while the overall story is the same, the way everyone who plays gets to experience it will differ from person to person based on how they analyze each situation and which conclusions they draw.

It’s a pretty interesting development story, regardless of how the actual game turns out. The only thing I can think of that was in a similar situation is Clockwork Aquario, which was nearly complete when it was cancelled in 1992 before being finally finished off and released in 2021. While no date has been set, this 30 years in the making project definitely has my attention and I’ll be looking forward to Of Two Minds whenever it does finally see the light of day.

Previously Cancelled Co-Op City Builder ‘Everdale’ Picked Up by ‘Merge Mansion’ Developer Metacore, May Get Released After All

Jared Nelson — Thu, 26 Jan 2023 17:32:26 +0000

Back in August of 2021 developer Supercell formally announced Everdale to the world, a cooperative city building game that had already been in a smaller form of beta testing under a different name for at least a year prior. That announcement kicked off a larger-scale soft launch for Everdale, and for the next year the game amassed a decent pool of players who all seemed to be really devout fans of the game. Everdale was a pretty different beast from most of Supercell’s other titles in that there was no competitive aspects to the game, no opening the app and seeing your beautiful city destroyed while you were away, and overall the whole vibe was just way more chill and friendly as the community of players all worked together to build something great. Here’s one of the game’s trailers to give you an idea of what Everdale was all about.

Well, as is pretty well known at this point, Supercell can be pretty aggressive in terms of keeping a game in soft launch until they feel it’s ready or even full blown cancelling a game because they feel it’s not up to snuff, even if that game has had years of work and resources poured into it. Unfortunately, after a bit over a year of that expanded soft launch, this was how they felt about Everdale and last October they decided to officially pull the plug. It’s tough to say exactly why they did this, but whatever the reason they seemed genuinely bummed to be shutting Everdale down and as I already mentioned the game had accumulated a very loyal set of fans who were all extremely upset to see a game they had been loving go to that great app store in the sky.

Several months removed from the game’s shutdown and VentureBeat is now reporting that there may be a second chance for the beloved Everdale as Supercell has officially sold off the game to fellow developer Metacore, who most people would know from their mega hit with the viral advertising Merge Mansion. There are plenty of interesting details in the full story at VentureBeat so be sure to give it a read, but the main points are that Metacore will be stripping the game as it is now down into parts to evaluate what they think works and what they think doesn’t, and then will basically build the game back up from scratch. This means that IF there is another release down the road, don’t expect anything this year, and also expect that the game could change quite a bit should that point ever come. Metacore sees potential in the game so I’d imagine they want to keep the core tenets in place, but they also could add or remove features as they see fit.

That said, SOME chance Everdale returns in some form is much better than the game just remaining dead. Metacore has a similar philosophy to Supercell in terms of how rigorously they work on a game before feeling it’s fully ready to be deployed, so it’s anyone’s guess as to when a new version of Everdale might ever show up. The important thing here though is that there’s at least some hope for the future of this game that people seem to love but never got its chance to fully shine.

[Via VentureBeat]

Out Now: ‘Devolver Tumble Time’, ‘Madness/Endless’, ‘Roller Drama’, ‘Dungreed’, ‘CardSurvival: Tropical Island’, ‘Mare: Pocket Edition’, ‘Punch Kick Duck’, and More

Jared Nelson — Thu, 26 Jan 2023 04:40:21 +0000

CardSurvival: Tropical Island ($15.99)

iTunes Description

Card Survival: Tropical Island is a card-based survival experience from the creators of Card Quest.

Experience what life would be like if you were stranded on a desert island, all in a card format.
Explore, craft tools and manage your needs in order to survive in this hostile environment.

Forum Thread: CardSurvival: Tropical Island (by WinterSpring Games Limited)

Dante’s Quest (Free)

iTunes Description

Darkness has fallen on princess Emilia’s castle. The evil king has sealed away all life and locked everyone in the castle walls. In her moment of need, Emilia calls to Dante, her loyal knight, to save the castle and defeat the king! Do you have what it takes to defeat the darkness and save Emilia’s castle?

Forum Thread: Dante’s Quest (by Christian Dentico)

Devolver Tumble Time (Free)

iTunes Description

Devolver Tumble Time is the future of physics-based puzzle matching gameplay, elegant monetization, and strategic brand integration. Choose characters from a packed roster of your favorite Devolver Digital games and rack up big points matching and clearing their impossibly adorable heads from the tumbler. Get hyped enough and unleash each character’s special ability to clear huge chunks and earn powerups to create chaotic chain reactions.

Then maybe watch some entertaining ads.

Earn and unlock new characters, compete in daily challenges, and buy stuff. Buying stuff is so great. Don’t forget to keep an eye out for new character drops from your favorite Devolver Digital games and maybe even from ones you’ve never heard of in your life.

Plus delicious ads. Watch ’em up real good.

Forum Thread: Devolver Tumble Time (by Devolver Digital)

Dungreed ($4.99)

iTunes Description

A quiet and peaceful town was destroyed by a mysterious dungeon and all the townspeople were sucked into it. You must become an adventurer sent from the kingdom to remedy this disaster. Enter the dungeon to face the endless threats, rescue the people, and rebuild the town!

There are no checkpoints in the dungeon. When an adventurer is slain within the dungeon, his items are lost and he is sent back to town. Don’t worry too much though. There are various ways you can grow. You can permanently increase your stats through training and become even stronger with the assorted items and food found in the dungeon. Train the adventurer and explore deep into the dungeon!

Forum Thread: Dungreed (by TEAM HORAY)

Idle Game Tycoon (Free)

iTunes Description

Have you ever dreamed of building up a successful games company and launching your own games? This simulation is set in the exciting and creative games development business – establish a successful company, build up your own development studio from a garage firm to a highly profitable company, create fantastic games, publish them, and make a mint. Employ managers who will help you, and optimize the way you work within your company. Research new technologies and genres to keep up with the major players and support your developers so they can further improve their performance and develop the best games. Enhance the creative play area with a whole host of playful items and decorate the offices just as you wish to give them your own personal touch.

Forum Thread: Idle Game Tycoon (by Sunlight Games)

Madness/Endless ($3.99)

iTunes Description

Darkness, despair, challenge… The world as we know it is run over by eldritch monstrosities. Survivors are few and far between, stuck between living in this new, grim world and scheming to overthrow others. You have been chosen to bear the greatest burden – the Herald’s Blade. Are you going to help your covenant or take over as the new overlord? Do you really have a choice?

Experience a unique ACTION STEALTH game created specifically for mobile. A hand crafted, pixel art world full of horrific creatures and hidden tragedies. Play with ONE hand and defeat enemies by using slick COMBOS and special ITEMS, while dashing through the environment with blinding speed! Discover a clandestine plot in this ruined world, where friends will betray you and foes will aid you…
Master the blade, master your surroundings and CONQUER!

Forum Thread: Madness/Endless (by Anthony Romano)

Mare: Pocket Edition ($4.99)

iTunes Description

As you wake up, stirred from a dreamless sleep with an unknown purpose, you find yourself in the strange lands of Mare embodying a mysterious artificial bird.

Crossing paths with a helpless companion you venture deep into unknown territory on a puzzling adventure while unraveling a mysterious narrative and the secrets hidden within. All in order to ensure the arrival of the companion at her impending destiny.

Forum Thread: Mare: Pocket Edition (by Visiontrick Media)

Narcos: Cartel Wars Unlimited (Free)

iTunes Description

Build your empire. Gain power. Destroy your enemies. Lead your own cartel in this strategy game based on the hit series.

Enter the world of Narcos: Step into the dangerous and thrilling role of cartel kingpin in the official strategy game based on the hit Netflix series. Decide between ruling with an iron fist and gaining respect through loyalty. Sometimes bad people do good things… In the end, you must decide will it be “Plata o Plomo”?

Learn the ropes of running an operation from drug lord El Patron himself and manage your “relationship” with the authorities through DEA agents Murphy and Peña.

There is money and power to be had. From now on, nowhere is safe.

Forum Thread: Narcos: Cartel Wars Unlimited (by FTX GAMES)

NBA All-World (Free)

iTunes Description

Go All Out with the global launch of NBA All-World!

NBA All-World unleashes the new era of Hoops. Get outside, step into the sneakers of today’s NBA superstars, and go 1v1 against the best players in the world. Explore your neighborhood while competing in mini-games to claim Ruler of the Court. Be on the lookout for sneaker & gear drops to flex your style & increase the performance of your squad. Represent where you’re from along with the best ballers in the world to prove. Are you ready to go All World?

Forum Thread: NBA All-World (by Niantic)

Prehistoric Isle 2 ACA NEOGEO ($3.99)

iTunes Description

PREHISTORIC ISLE 2 is a shooting game released by SNK in 1999.
Various types of dinosaurs which are large, small, or even have the wings emerged!
Your mission is to eliminate these primeval beasts from the city.
Rescue and help all trapped citizens’ escape!. Enjoy a variety of stages and colorful settings!

Forum Thread: Prehistoric Isle 2 ACA NEOGEO (by SNK)

Punch Kick Duck! (Free)

iTunes Description

Fighting is all about timing. Just ask any duck.

The right move + right time = swift victory.

All you need to do is PUNCH KICK DUCK!

The cruel Baron Tigrisso has imprisoned you in his tower. Fight hordes of the Baron’s hench-critters as you battle up the tower to confront your captor.

Simple controls & smooth flowing action mean you’ll soon be sending foes flying and getting high scores on your quest for vengeance.

Forum Thread: Punch Kick Duck (by Shaun Coleman)

Quick Rally (Free)

iTunes Description

An arcade casual fastest time chaser.
Compete on the leaderboard against friends or anyone in the world to set the fastest time on each track.
A weekly challenge track, with a new track each week and a fresh clean leaderboard to compete for the best time.
22 tracks to compete for the fastest time. And more to come!!
Unlock tracks and new cars by beating allocated times.
then continue to better your times.
Will you be the fastest Quick Rally driver?

Forum Thread: Quick Rally (by Adam Rogan)

Roller Drama ($5.99)

iTunes Description

Lead a team of Roller Derby athletes using strategy and real-time controls: sport action on skates and an interactive story, grappling with friendship and heartbreak!

The visual novel / sport management mashup game of your (anxiety-ridden?) DREAMS!
Lead a team of Roller Derby athletes using strategy and real-time controls.
Outside the ring you’ll have to manage five big personalities as they grapple with friendship, heartbreak, and late capitalist society…

Forum Thread: Roller Drama (by Open Lab Games)

Three Skies (Free)

iTunes Description

Three Skies is a story driven strategic RPG that contains challenging non-linear dungeons, turn-based elemental combat, and highly customizable heroes.

Customize your Commander, collect and level over 60 unique heroes, and design the perfectly synergized dungeon exploring party to unravel the mystery of the Calamity and save the land of Baranor from a mysterious villain surfacing out of your past.

Forum Thread: Three Skies (by Shiny Box Games)

VARIOUS DAYLIFE Mobile ($22.99)

iTunes Description

An all-new adventure x daily life RPG from SQUARE ENIX, created by the development team that worked on OCTOPATH TRAVELER and BRAVELY DEFAULT.

■Story
In the year 211 of the Imperial Era, a new continent was discovered. Explore its every last corner as a settler of Antoecia, while living your life to the fullest in the city of Erebia.

Forum Thread: VARIOUS DAYLIFE Mobile (by SQUARE ENIX)

Willy’s Wonderland ($1.99)

iTunes Description

Welcome to Willy’s Wonderland! But something isn’t quite right…

Join the Janitor and Liv to battle it out and free the place from Willy and his henchmen!

– Go through Willy’s Wonderland themed stages
– Two characters to choose from!
– Do your best and hit the biggest combos!

Forum Thread: Willy’s Wonderland (by QUByte Games)

Youtubers Life 2 ($6.99)

iTunes Description

Every trend is a story to discover in NewTube City! Live new adventures by meeting over 30 charismatic characters who will drive you to success.

YOUR ROAD TO FAME STARTS NOW!
Explore NewTube City to discover new trends and build new relationships with different characters to take your channel to new heights every day!

Forum Thread: Youtubers Life 2 Creators Game (by Raiser Games)

‘Valiant Hearts: Coming Home’ Launches on iOS and Android via Netflix Games January 31st

Jared Nelson — Tue, 24 Jan 2023 23:51:20 +0000

Back in September of last year, during a Ubisoft Forward digital showcase event, Ubisoft announced that they’d partnered up with Netflix for three exclusive mobile releases. These would be a new Assassin’s Creed game, a new Mighty Quest for Epic Loot game, and a sequel to cult-classic Valiant Hearts: The Great War. We still don’t know anything about those first two, but the Valiant Hearts sequel was unveiled with the title Valiant Hearts: Coming Home and it was shown off for the first time with a new trailer just last month that detailed where it takes place in relation to the original game. Here’s that trailer again in case you missed it.

All signs pointed to Valiant Hearts: Coming Home being pretty close to the finish line, and today Netflix has confirmed that the game is just around the corner and will be launching on January 31st as part of their Netflix Games library. As you may already be aware, the original Valiant Hearts: The Great War was released on mobile way back in 2014, and it fit the mobile platform quite well. We loved it in our review from nearly a decade ago, so it’s exciting to see the long-awaited sequel also arriving on the mobile platform, even if it does drive console and PC players bananas. In addition to Valiant Hearts: Coming Home releasing at the end of the month, Netflix also debuted Narcos: Cartel Wars Unlimited on their service today, so feel free to check that out if that interests you.

‘Dan the Man 2’ and the Return of ‘Age of Zombies’ and ‘Fish Out of Water’ Announced During Halfbrick Beyond Digital Showcase

Jared Nelson — Tue, 24 Jan 2023 00:12:45 +0000

Companies hosting their own digital showcases is all the rage nowadays, and long-time Australian developer Halbrick has just hosted their very own called the Halfbrick Beyond Showcase. It was a short one at just a hair over 10 minutes long, but it was packed with some very cool announcements. The areas where Halfbrick operates are mobile games (obviously), VR games, and animation. On the VR front they announced Fruit Ninja VR 2 and Thrill of the Fight 2, on the animation front they announced a new Jetpack Joyride animated series and the continuation of the Dan the Man animated series, and on the mobile gaming front they announced the return of two beloved classic games as well as a highly-requested sequel. That sequel is none other than Dan the Man 2, and you can see the teaser trailer below.

As for the two returning games, the first is one of the big hits that put Halfbrick on the map and it’s also the original adventure of Barry Steakfries, who has gone on to be basically the Halfbrick mascot and star in a number of other titles. I’m of course talking about Age of Zombies. Next is Fish Out of Water, a fish-flinging high score game in the vein of all those popular launch-as-far-as-possible games but with some added depth and loads more personality. I don’t recall exactly when either of these titles fell into disrepair enough to be pulled from the App Store, but Halfbrick mentions they are each rebuilt in brand new engines so they should be up and running smoothly when they re-arrive sometime this year. Probably very similar to how they relaunched Monster Dash back in 2020.

I’m a particularly huge Age of Zombies fan so I’m very stoked about that, and I’m also excited to re-experience Fish Out of Water after not playing it for probably close to a decade. Both those rereleases are set for a nebulous 2023 release, while Dan the Man 2 has a slightly more specific Summer 2023 release window.

TouchArcade Game of the Week: ‘Static Shift Racing’

Jared Nelson — Sat, 21 Jan 2023 02:25:08 +0000

I was oddly intrigued when I first heard about developer Timbo Jimbo’s Static Shift Racing last week. The premise was that it’s an open-world street racing game with a heavy ’90s vibe in terms of vehicles and style, and there’s a huge emphasis on customization with thousands of parts and upgrades so every racer can trick out their own ride just to their liking. It sounded massively ambitious for what seemed like a pretty tiny studio, so I kind of figured it would either be a huge success or a major flop when it finally released.

Well, Static Shift Racing did launch globally this week and I’m happy to say it falls way more on the side of a success. Don’t get me wrong, there is a long ways to go in many respects, but what is here at launch is majorly impressive, and more importantly majorly fun. As mentioned you’ll roam around an open world entering into various types of races, and this is one area where the game feels like it could use some expanding. The environment isn’t as large as your typical open world game, but it is incredibly detailed with lots of well-designed roadways that will act as different circuits in the various events.

Then there’s the vehicle selection, which is just 5 to start, but those 5 are quite different from one another and have quite a lot of customization options to explore. Again, the level of quality and polish here puts much larger studios to shame. Everything is tied to an overall progression system for your driver as well as your various vehicles. This is the part of the game that has really sucked me in. Earning XP, unlocking new parts, tricking out your ride with the new gear, and then heading back out to race some more is a very satisfying game loop. It’s like playing a loot-based dungeon crawler except it’s a street racing game, and it’s awesome.

Also worth mentioning is that the racing itself is super fun. Very arcadey and very drift-focused. It can feel a little wonky at first but once you get the hang of things it’s extremely satisfying to carve around curves completely sideways while colored smoke billows from your tires and tunes blast out from the speakers. I think the developers were going for a very specific vibe with Static Shift Racing and I think they definitely nailed it.

With all these positive points does come some negative. First and foremost is that there just needs to be more game here. More open world areas, more vehicles, and more event types. To be fair this is all stuff that is supposedly already in the works and will be coming soon, but I’ve seen far too many games make promises they never followed through with so the proof will definitely be in the pudding should said pudding really materialize. The second thing is that this is a very free to play game, with a ticket system for entering races where the tickets are on cool-down timers as well as two types of in-game currency. So far none of this has been an issue, but that’s always how they start, right? Long term remains to be seen.

All that said the good definitely outweighs the bad here, and as jaded as I’ve become over the years I’d like to think that this is a developer that’s just passionate about a very specific type of racing game and wanted to make one of their own, and is just trying to negotiate the troubled waters of mobile gaming as best they can. What is here today is a very, very solid base to something that could become truly special, and the fact that it’s free does at least mean that anybody could try it out for themselves to see if Static Shift Racing revs their own engines as much as it has for me so far.

‘Motorsport Manager Mobile 3’ Sees a Rare Price Drop of 75%, Currently $1.99 Through this Weekend

Jared Nelson — Thu, 19 Jan 2023 20:30:54 +0000

For many years now the Motorsport Manager series has had a strong showing on mobile, offering players the chance to build their very own team of race car drivers and try to manage them to victory. The series has continued to refine itself with each new entry, with 2018’s Motorsport Manager Mobile 3 considered by many to be the best of the bunch. It’s a game that doesn’t go on sale all that often, and in fact as best I can tell its last sale was more than 3 years ago back in December of 2019. So it seemed worth pointing out that from today and through the weekend until Monday, Motorsport Manager 3 is currently 75% off at just $1.99.

If you’re curious to learn more about what’s in store for you with Motorsport Manager 3, feel free to read our full review from back when it released in 2018. I’m not all that interested in racing myself, but as our review states this is the kind of game that can suck you in even if you have no interest in the sport itself, and it’ll actually do well to teach you a thing or two about the sport along the way. Not bad for just a couple of bucks if you grab Motorsport Manager 3 before this coming weekend is over.

Out Now: ‘Static Shift Racing’, ‘Sands of Salzaar’, ‘Memorrha Mobile’, ‘Sengoku 2 ACA NEOGEO’, ‘UFO99’, and More

Jared Nelson — Thu, 19 Jan 2023 05:34:53 +0000

Cyber Manhunt ($4.99)

iTunes Description

Cyber Manhunt is a Cyber-Style, Realistic- Society theme, Story-Rich indie game. The game taked place in the Republic of Alivia with some different theme stories ,but the fate of the characters is closely related in there. It will focus on social issues liking big data, hacking, citizen privacy etc…

We want to reveal the profound themes behind the stories with wonderful plots and gamification. And let players pay more attention to Cyber Violence and Privacy Breaches.

Forum Thread: Cyber Manhunt (by DQM Games)

Memorrha Mobile ($6.99)

iTunes Description

Go on a voyage of discovery following the traces of a mysterious culture.
Solve the mystery of sleeping machines and learn more about their creators. A diverse and open world full of thrilling puzzles and secrets awaits you.

Forum Thread: Memorrha Mobile (by StickyStoneStudio GmbH)

Orixo Hex (Free)

iTunes Description

Orixo Hex is here! If you like Orixo, you’ll love Orixo Hex!

Similar to its predecessor, the goal is to fill all the empty hexagonal cells with the correct order of actions. As simple as it may seem, it can get quite challenging.

Discover an immersive puzzling experience through hundreds of hand-crafted levels and enjoy the relaxing soundtracks that accompanies you in your journey.

Forum Thread: Orixo Hex (by Logisk Studio Inc)

Otok ($0.99)

iTunes Description

This is a very chill Sandbox “City Builder", No Goals, just build your island as beautifully as you can with the given buildings.

When you start the game gives you a 4×4 up to 12×12 block island, and the colors of the Roofs, Water, Grass, and Trees, are randomly picked.

Then you are given a random building that you can rotate and place where you choose. After placing you will be given another building, to build a nice little pretty island.

Forum Thread: Otok (by Jaxon Gallegos Garcia)

ReDrawn: The Tower (Free)

iTunes Description

A mysterious tower holds the secrets to untold power and the little girl who wields it. Iris is the key to your world’s future and can bring her art to life, but an unknown evil wants to keep her from her destiny. When she’s captured and trapped somewhere in the tower, only you can rescue her and save the kingdom in the process!

Can you traverse the worlds inside her paintings to reach her in time? Find out in this spell-binding Hidden-Object Puzzle adventure!

Forum Thread: ReDrawn: The Tower (by F.F.S. Video Games)

Sands of Salzaar ($4.99)

iTunes Description

Sands of Salzaar is an open-world strategy-action RPG set across a sprawling desert. Build up and manage your forces from a single unit to a mighty army, then lead them into massive battles against your foes. How you progress is up to you: customize your hero with a wide variety of skills and talents, choose which factions to side with, and plan your strategies carefully to establish yourself as whoever you aspire to be – a lone wolf, a wealthy trader, a city lord, or a war schemer.

Forum Thread: Sands of Salzaar (by X.D. Network Inc)

Sengoku 2 ACA NEOGEO ($3.99)

iTunes Description

SENGOKU 2 is a side scrolling action game released by SNK in 1993.
Take on the role of a warrior summoned by a shrine princess, and fight over various historical periods in order to defeat the dark monarch.
Players can enjoy new tactical features such as charge attacks and defensive abilities.

Forum Thread: Sengoku 2 ACA NEOGEO (by SNK)

Static Shift Racing (Free)

iTunes Description

Tear through the streets of Static Nation, a vast open world playground comprised of multiple thriving districts. Explore sweeping highways, race through dirty industrial zones, and drift among forested mountain passes. Stay tuned for updates as additional districts will soon expand the city limits of Static Nation.

Forum Thread: Static Shift Racing (by Timbo Jimbo)

UFO99 (Free)

iTunes Description

1-4P local WiFi multiplayer co-op flying arcade game.

Perform your best flying, speeding and dodging skills with your favorite character!

Block monsters can be found floating around in this colorful universe, so watch out! Pick up big hammers and smash them. Keep challenging levels to get a higher rank and score!

Giant bosses hide away in the Demon Key. Dodge their attacks, pick up magic items and fight back. Retrieve the long-lost UFO99 letter gems!

Forum Thread: UFO99 (by Noice2D Game Studio)

Your Outfit Could Be On the Line in ‘Ultimate Sackboy’, the ‘LittleBigPlanet’ Star’s Latest Auto-Runner that’s Launching February 21st

Jared Nelson — Thu, 19 Jan 2023 00:49:19 +0000

It seems like just about any character you can think of has had an auto-running mobile game at some point in time. In fact, with Mario, Sonic, and Crash Bandicoot all having their own runner games (or I guess had in the case of poor old Crash) that covers the entire trifecta of ’90s console war mascots. A more contemporary console mascot would be Sackboy from Sony’s LittleBigPlanet series, and indeed this adorable little fellow has also had his own mobile running game already with 2014’s Run Sackboy! Run! However, THAT was a side-scrolling auto-runner, and what Sackboy really wants is a 3rd person runner. Enter Ultimate Sackboy, a new 3rd person runner starring Sony’s plucky little mascot. Apparently the premise here is that Sackboy is entered into some sort of Olymics-style games competition, or something? Here’s the trailer.

Along with all the running there is a huge emphasis on collecting clothing items and customizing your Sackboy to your liking. I’m talking thousands of unlockable and upgradeable clothing options, and in an interesting twist you can actually compete against other players where your competitor’s outfit can actually be the reward for winning. It’s like racing for pink slips but with costumes. Ultimate Sackboy has actually been in various stages of testing or soft launch for quite some time now, so chances are you may have seen this one at some point depending on where you live. However, a proper global launch is on the horizon so look for this one to arrive everywhere on both iOS and Android devices on February 21st.

TouchArcade Game of the Week: ‘TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge’

Jared Nelson — Sat, 14 Jan 2023 00:20:26 +0000

I say this quite often, but this was one of those weeks where it was almost painful to have to pick just one new game to be Game of the Week. There were a number of really cool games released this week, so be sure to check them out, but at the end of the day there was no way I wasn’t going with one of my favorite games released on other platforms last year, TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge from Tribute Games and Dotemu, which has now made its way to mobile this week courtesy of Playdigious as part of the Netflix Games library.

First off, the beat ’em up genre is one of my very favorites. I admit that I’m biased having grown up through the arcade era of the ’80s and ’90s when that was a dominant genre, and in this day and age I can say that it’s not a genre that’s aged particularly well. The classics that people like myself hold in such high regard are actually quite shallow, repetitive, and unfairly cheap when it comes to difficulty. That was fine when one of the design targets of these games was to get kids pumping quarters into a machine, but it doesn’t hold up so well today.

Back then though those negative aspects didn’t matter. It was all about teaming up with a buddy or three and playing as some of your favorite characters beating the snot out of your most hated villains. I routinely replay through these old games just for a quick nostalgia hit. The Simpsons Arcade Game, X-Men, Final Fight, and of course the original TMNT arcade games. And plenty more. I typically get 30 minutes to an hour of fun before the shallowness starts to wear thin, especially if I’m not playing co-op with someone else. It’s good for what it is, but like I said, it hasn’t aged all that well.

That’s not to say that there haven’t been deeper or more complex beat ’em ups released in the decades since, but I think it was really 2020’s Streets of Rage 4 that really brought the genre into a more contemporary setting. It showed us that combat could be more nuanced and strategic rather than button mashy. Unique game modes and progression systems showed that a beat ’em up didn’t need to be just some 20-minute linear campaign and instead it could actually offer a ton of meaningful replay value. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that I’m also a major fan of Streets of Rage 4 (which is also phenomenal on mobile), and it’s from this same cloth that TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge is cut.

Ok, this has been a whole lot of words and I haven’t even talked about the game in question yet, but being that it was one of the marquee releases of last year on other platforms there should be no shortage of reviews or info should you need to seek it, including our own glowing review and our interview with the developers on bringing it to mobile. This is still the full fantastic game that is on other platforms already, but with excellent touch controls implemented as well as full physical controller support. There’s also some truly impressive online matchmaking that seems to always be populated with other people to play with, which feels exceedingly rare for a mobile game.

If I have to come up with a drawback for TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge, it’s that it requires having a Netflix subscription in order to play on mobile. That will no doubt turn off some people who either don’t have Netflix or would just rather pay upfront for the game the old-fashioned way, but that’s the world we’re living in nowadays. Thankfully the Netflix Games library is truly incredible and arguably a reason itself to subscribe to Netflix if you don’t already given how many great games you can play in return, but if it’s still a dealbreaker for you I can only urge you to seek out another platform to play TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge because games that exude this level of sheer joy and playfulness don’t come around all that often.

‘Kingdom: The Blood’, Based on the Hit Netflix Series, Gets New Gameplay and Developer Commentary Videos

Jared Nelson — Thu, 12 Jan 2023 20:49:53 +0000

We’ve known since back in August of 2021 that developer Action Square was working on a mobile game called Kingdom: The Blood that is based on the hit Netflix series Kingdom, and it was just shy of a year later in July of 2022 that we got our first glimpse of what the game would be all about with a very early gameplay trailer. Now today they’ve unveiled two brand new trailers showing the current state of Kingdom: The Blood. The first is a new in-progress gameplay trailer which shows off the sword-based combat mechanics, some gruesome zombie bad guys, and what appears to be some impressively large and menacing boss battles. Check out that trailer below.

Then there is a second trailer which is more of a developer commentary video where they discuss the main areas of focus for Kingdom: The Blood. One is to be very faithful to the show in terms of characters, locations, and visuals. And like the show they want to be faithful to the Korean culture with things like traditional garments and combat moves. Speaking of combat, there looks to be an impressive amount of customization and upgradeability with your character’s repertoire of moves. There’s plenty more details to glean as well, so if you have about 5 minutes to spare you can check out the commentary video right over here.

Kingdom: The Blood will feature cross-platform play between mobile and PC, and while no release date is available just yet you can wishlist the PC version over on Steam to keep tabs on its progress.

‘Static Shift Racing’ to Bring Open World Street Racing with a Heavy ’90s Vibe on January 18th

Jared Nelson — Thu, 12 Jan 2023 18:33:36 +0000

Developer Timbo Jimbo, which I’d like to believe is just two guys named Tim and Jim, are readying the full release of their debut mobile game called Static Shift Racing. This is a street racing game with a ’90s vibe that features open world areas to explore and find different races and events where you can compete against other real-life players. The core of the experience though is based around a heavy level of vehicle customization, so that you can trick out your ride in all sorts of ways and then see how your kit stacks up against the rest of the world. Check out the trailer for Static Shift Racing.

I’m super digging the vibe in this one, and if things work out as intended, it seems like it will be a lot of fun to cruise around an open world and enter into events with my tricked out ride. Currently Static Shift Racing is in soft launch in Australia and New Zealand, so if you’re from those parts you can check out the game for yourself right now. For everyone else the game’s full launch will be just shy of a week from now, on January 18th. It’s an ambitious project from what sounds like a small team, so on launch you can expect 5 different vehicles and one open world location to kick things off, with much more content planned to roll out as the game settles in. I’ll be looking forward to checking this one out when it drops next week.

Out Now: ‘TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge’, ‘Perfect Grind’, ‘A Slight Chance of Sawblades’, ‘Timberman – The Big Adventure’, ‘Omega 13’, ‘Monthly Dystopia’, ‘Wavecade’ and More

Jared Nelson — Thu, 12 Jan 2023 05:03:14 +0000

A Slight Chance of Sawblades (Free)

iTunes Description

A storm is coming, but umbrellas won’t help – it’s going to rain SAWBLADES!!

Dodge, jump and somersault over razor-sharp sawblades in an attempt to survive the deadly storm! Compete in the global leaderboard for the spot of the best blade-jumper. Unlock quirky and outlandish characters to join in the blade jumping mayhem!

Forum Thread: A Slight Chance of Sawblades (by Chinykian)

Boxville ($4.99)

iTunes Description

Boxville is an adventure puzzle game about speechless cans living in the city of boxes and drawing doodles on cardboards to tell the stories.
Boxville is good for playing alone to dive into the atmosphere and challenge your brain with sophisticated logic puzzles and riddles, or playing with a friend or family to share unique audio-visual experiences and solve the puzzles together.

Forum Thread: Boxville (by Triomatica Games)

Chronescher ($3.99)

iTunes Description

Chronescher is a challenging isometric puzzle game. Set in an escherpunk world consisting of six unique biomes. It requires you to learn time- space- and mindbending mechanics in order to puzzle your way forward. As you progress further you will untangle who you are playing and what happend to them.scend the roofs of the city and journey to the top of the highest tower, where you may even discover something about yourself.

Forum Thread: Chronescher (by Purple Sloth Studio eG)

Fatal Fury 3 ACA NEOGEO ($3.99)

iTunes Description

FATAL FURY 3 is a fighting game released by SNK in 1995.
A new “Story” is about to begin in the city of South Town. Five new characters join for a total of 10 hungry wolves ready for battle.
Featuring new elements such as the Oversway and Combination Art mechanic, be ready for epic and intense fights!

Forum Thread: Fatal Fury 3 ACA NEOGEO (by SNK)

KartRider: Drift (Free)

iTunes Description

Try KartRider: Drift, a multi-player racing game and the latest in the KartRider series, which is enjoyed by more than 300 million players around the world!

■ Different Game Modes Based on Preference
Speed Mode: Feel the rush of speed as you gather boosts and fine-tune your drifting skills.
Item Mode: Collect unique items in chaotic and surprising races.
Whichever mode you choose, first place is waiting for you!

Forum Thread: KartRider: Drift (by NEXON Company)

Legend of the Moon: Shooting ($0.29)

iTunes Description

This is retro classic arcade Full 3D shooting game.
In the Legend of the Moon World, join the war unfolding before your eyes.

You can play the game combining with other devices

Find the key to save the earth by destroying entities posing a threat.

Forum Thread: Legend of the Moon: Shooting (by Sungmin Lee)

Monthly Dystopia ($1.99)

iTunes Description

In Monthly Dystopia, you need to find a way to survive in an authoritarian world. You can serve the dictatorship by being a model citizen or you can try to flee the country by cooperating with the Resistance. You live under a regime in which love is forbidden and using words banned by the Party is punishable by death. Choose your words wisely if you don’t want to commit a thought crime. Remember, there’s always a screen watching you. The paycheck from your job at the ministry editing the past is barely enough to buy the food needed to keep you alive, so it is crucial that you find a way to flee this dystopia where even thinking is forbidden.

Forum Thread: Monthly Dystopia (by Fatih Beceren)

Omega 13 ($4.99)

iTunes Description

You play as a mech pilot who survived the war. In order to find someone, you join the arena and fight to the championship. You will also meet a mysterious woman and uncover the truth about the eternal night of the planet.

Forum Thread: Omega 13 (by Game Stew)

Origami Paradise (Free)

iTunes Description

Origami is the art of folding paper into all sorts of animals and objects. This intricate form of art is the inspiration behind Origami Paradise, an idle game where you bring the world of origami to life! Populate your world with all sorts of intricate origami animals. Choose the paper, paint and add stickers to each origami animal to your liking. Arrange and build your animal habitat and watch as your animals interact with its environment.

Forum Thread: Origami Paradise (by Seasun Games)

Perfect Grind (Free)

iTunes Description

SKATE WITH ONE FINGER
Flip, grind and more with brand new touch controls that make it easy and fun to learn new tricks!

DECK OUT YOUR CHARACTER
A wide variety of cool, wacky characters and apparel to choose from!

CREATE + SHARE YOUR OWN PARK
Build your own one-of-a-kind creations from over 50 different prefabs, and then share them with your friends – or the world!

Forum Thread: Perfect Grind (by Noodlecake)

Puzzle Gods (Free)

iTunes Description

Match and switch elements to level up, defeat Little Hades and rescue the gods in this mythic puzzler. The Land of Olympus needs you!

Little Hades has kidnapped the Puzzle Gods, and Little Zu is the only one who can save them. Join Little Zu in his quest to rescue his friends!

Forum Thread: Puzzle Gods (by Boon Studios)

Septourian ($1.99)

iTunes Description

Septourian is a turn-based RPG with procedurally generated content.
Embark on an epic quest through the sprawling lands of Septouria to discover its secrets.

Forum Thread: Septourian (by Harry Lundström)

Timberman – The Big Adventure (Free)

iTunes Description

Timberman is back in his new 2D side-scroller platform adventure!

Follow our brave lumberjack on his quest to rescue his friends and save the forest from the Evil Corp. Defeat hordes of enemies, solve puzzles, chop wood and construct various structures to help you complete challenging levels. Find secret treasures, unlock mini games, battle bosses and many more!

Forum Thread: Timberman – The Big Adventure (by Digital Melody)

TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge (Free)

iTunes Description

Kick shell with Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, Michelangelo or other familiar friends in this totally tubular ’80s-inspired beat ’em up. Cowabunga!

They’re lean, they’re green and they’re mean! Battle as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to foil Krang and Shredder’s latest twisted plan. Brawl across a righteous range of classic TMNT locations in this beautifully rendered retro beat ’em up.

Smash your way through more than a dozen different levels and use your dangerous ninja combos to defeat classic enemies like Baxter Stockman or the Triceraton!

Forum Thread: TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge (by Tribute Games)

Wavecade ($2.99)

iTunes Description

WAVECADE is a sci-fi, arcade-style #shmup where YOU control the speed of the game. Destroy blocks, collect powerups, avoid hazards. Set your own rules, unlock game modes.

Inspired by classic arcade shooters such as ‘Space Invaders’ and ‘Galaga’, Wavecade brings back the original nostalgia feeling to players from arcades, using sleek retro 80’s and sci-fi aesthetic.

Forum Thread: Wavecade (by Andrew Spalato)

‘A Slight Chance of Sawblades’ Launching this Week from ‘Jump Jerboa’ Developer, Available for Pre-Order Now

Jared Nelson — Mon, 09 Jan 2023 20:22:39 +0000

We have quite enjoyed the games released by developer ChinyKian over the years, starting with the frantic “fall down" platformer Serious Scramblers (Free) in late 2018 and then the extremely polished one-button platformer Jump Jerboa (Free) which was released in late 2021 and earned our coveted Game of the Week award at that time. Now this self-described “mostly solo" developer is gearing up to release another new title called A Slight Chance of Sawblades, but don’t let that name fool you: The chances of sawblades here are anything but slight. In fact, I’d say they’re 100%. Here your goal is to avoid a menagerie of sawblades for as long as possible by jumping, double-jumping, and wall-jumping around an enclosed arena. Here’s the trailer for A Slight Chance of Sawblades.

You can definitely feel a connection between all three of ChinyKian’s games which are all variations of some form of platforming. Interestingly, this is sort of a rebirth of an older ChinyKian game that I loved back in 2016 called Jump Over the Rings. I enjoyed the heck out of that game but it featured a healthy amount of ads and no IAP to remove them, so despite liking the game a whole lot I hardly ever played it because of that. I don’t believe that will be the case when A Slight Chance of Sawblades launches this coming Wednesday, as Chiny’s more recent games all have an ad-removal option. If you’d like to pre-order this one ahead of release you can do so on the iOS App Store as well as the Google Play Store for Android.

TouchArcade Game of the Week: ‘Rocco’s Island: Pocket Edition’

Jared Nelson — Sat, 07 Jan 2023 00:18:17 +0000

I feel like I’ve said this more than a thousand times by now, but there are a ton of hidden gems over on PC that I would never ever have been aware of had they not also come to mobile, and this time around I’m talking about Rocco’s Island from developer Cogoo. Technically it’s Rocco’s Island: Pocket Edition, which is the mobile version of Rocco’s Island: Ring to End the Pain that was released on Steam in March of last year. And yes, last year was 2022, I had to rewrite that sentence because I’m still not used to it being 2023 yet.

So anyway, Rocco’s Island is an atmospheric, at times surreal, narrative adventure game where you play a young girl named Evelyn who wakes up on a mysterious island, not sure how she got there. As she begins to explore this island and try to make sense of it all, she accidentally rings a large bell, and inadvertently sets off a countdown clock to the destruction of the entire island and everyone who lives there. Oops! To be fair, the bell did have a big sign that said “Ring to End the Pain" so I kind of think we all would have done the same if we were in her shoes, no?

Gameplay involves walking down set paths, discovering hidden items, and interacting with a wide variety of extremely colorful characters. These characters often give you hints on what to do or unblock the path forward. There are also numerous puzzles that can block your path to progression, and these mainly play out in very well-designed and challenging match-3 puzzles. You will also encounter 2048-style puzzles (or should I say Threes!-style puzzles), “adjust the position of objects so their shadows cast a picture" type puzzles, and humorous riddles.

This variety of puzzle types as well as the characters and their dialogue really make Rocco’s Island a fun game to experience. I’m definitely invested in finding out the mystery behind the island and Evelyn’s own past, as it’s obvious from the various flashback cutscenes that there’s more going on than it appears on the surface. And just as I’m getting to the next juicy part of the story, I find myself hammering away at the next puzzle to solve, which as I said before are all very cleverly-designed. It’s just a great mix of elements that makes for a great game, and you can play a huge chunk of Rocco’s Island: Pocket Edition for free before committing to the one-time $5 IAP to unlock the full game. So, you know, go try it already.

TouchArcade’s Giant List of the Best Mobile Games of 2022

Jared Nelson — Fri, 06 Jan 2023 19:00:01 +0000

Alongside picking a Game of the Year, we also like to highlight all the many great games released during the year that were excellent in their own right but didn’t quite make it to Game of the Year status. In the world of mobile, this is always a daunting task. Dozens of games release each week, and even if in each of those batches there’s only one or two good ones, you’re still staring at more than 100 noteworthy games by the end of any given year. It’s very, very difficult to try to pare down that list into something that’s manageable for an end of year feature. There’s been years where we’ve just gone ahead and done a top 100 list, but that is an enormous amount of work and we are a very tiny staff operating on an even tinier budget. Heck even a top 50 list is many man-hours that we just don’t have.

So for 2022 I’ve decided to do something a bit different. Below I’ve compiled all of our Game of the Week picks for 2022. All of these would have been on a Best of 2022 list anyway, but instead of us having to painstakingly write individual summaries for every game, you can simply click the link to the Game of the Week article where I’ve already previously written several paragraphs about each game and why it’s great. That gives you a solid list of 51 (there was no GotW last week) games to sift through looking for anything you might have missed, and with more information on each one than our traditional Best Of lists would have anyway. That seems like a win-win!

Of course, there were more great games than just what made our Game of the Week picks, and so below all of those you can find our Honorable Mention picks for both Apple Arcade and Netflix, and then a short but sweet list of other regular App Store games that we loved this year.

Games of the Week for 2022

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Apple Arcade Honorable Mentions:

Netflix Honorable Mentions:

App Store Honorable Mentions:

Phew! That is A LOT of games, and believe me when I tell you that this list was twice as long when we began this whole process. I think that if TouchArcade is somehow still kicking around by the end of 2023, we’ll start the process well in advance and just try to include every-damn-thing that we thought was cool from the year. If there are things you thought should have been included on our lists but wasn’t, be sure to list them in the comments section below, as there are no doubt many great games that we weren’t able to feature and you might just help someone find something cool to play that they never would have known about otherwise. Isn’t that why we’re all here in the first place? Thanks to everyone for reading TouchArcade in 2022 and we’ll look forward to another banner year of mobile gaming in 2023!

Previous Best of the Year Round-Ups:

‘OPUS: Prism Peak’ is the Latest Entry in the Wonderful ‘OPUS’ Narrative Adventure Game Series

Jared Nelson — Thu, 05 Jan 2023 21:57:54 +0000

I’ve always been quite fond of developer SIGONO’s OPUS series of narrative adventure games, and in fact the first title, OPUS: The Day We Found Earth (Free), originally launched on mobile way back in 2015. The follow-up title OPUS: Rocket of Whispers (Free) also launched on mobile in 2017, and both games went on to be ported to PC and Switch. It was their third title however, OPUS: Echo of Starsong, that launched on PC first and also went on to receive widespread critical acclaim. I felt happy that so many people were now discovering the OPUS series, but also a bit sad that the latest title wasn’t on my preferred platform. Thankfully SIGONO hadn’t forgotten their roots, and Echo of Starsong did arrive on mobile this past November, and it was well worth the wait.

Now SIGONO has unveiled their latest project in the OPUS series, this one titled OPUS: Prism Peak. They’re referring to it as a “spiritual sibling" to the previous OPUS: Echo of Starsong, and describe it as “a cross between What Remains of Edith Finch and Makoto Shinkai films, where players go on a journey of wistful nostalgia to explore past regrets." Check out this teaser trailer for Prism Peak.

You may recall that we interviewed Scott Chen, co-founder of SIGONO and executive producer of the OPUS series, back in November just shortly after the arrival of Echo of Starsong on iOS. In that interview Chen specifically mentioned that bringing Echo of Starsong to mobile felt like returning home since that is where the series had started, a feeling I very much shared, and we were sure to ask if any future titles would be making their way to mobile as well. At that time Prism Peak was known as Project Mountain, and the short answer to it coming to mobile was basically “We’d love to, but no promises." It was also brought up in that interview that Echo of Starsong was extremely well-received being part of Xbox Game Pass, and that the OPUS series would be really well suited to a gaming subscription service like Apple Arcade or Netflix. Maybe one of those guys want to jump in and make sure we can get Prism Peak on mobile? Just thinking out loud here.

Whatever the case, I’m always excited for a new OPUS game no matter what platform(s) it ends up on. There’s no current release window for OPUS: Prism Peak, but you can Wishlist the game on Steam to follow along with its progress and maybe if we all collectively cross our fingers we’ll see it end up on mobile devices someday too.

Out Now: ‘Rocco’s Island: Pocket Edition’, ‘Mighty Aphid 2’, ‘Pocket GM 3: Football Manager’, ‘Resonance of the Ocean’, ‘Lillie is the Keeper’, ‘Eversoul’, ‘Metarails’ and More

Jared Nelson — Thu, 05 Jan 2023 04:50:16 +0000

Ancients Reborn: MMORPG (Free)

iTunes Description

Ancients Reborn is a popular MMORPG that combines the intricate mechanics of a modern online role-playing game, with the nostalgic lineage of old-school MMORPG adventure games. Play casually with your friends or as a hardcore adventurer and destroy your enemies in battle.

Forum Thread: Ancients Reborn: MMORPG (by Xisle Games)

Circle – Endless Spinning Game (Free)

iTunes Description

Circle is an Exciting Arcade Game where you have to rotate around a circle to dodge enemies!

Tap the screen to Change rotation direction and dodge all of the endless obstacles ahead. Can you beat the high score?
As you tap you will rotate, overtime the game gets faster and harder, but never touch the obstacles or it’s all over!
Unlock additional new skins for your player.

Forum Thread: Circle – Endless Spinning Game (by SHSGAMES48)

Eversoul (Free)

iTunes Description

■ SUMMON UNIQUE SOULS
Summon myriads of beautifully crafted Souls from 6 different factions, each with their own exclusive skills and battle animations, and form your optimum Soul squad.

■ STRATEGIZE EPIC BATTLES
Master faction advantages, harness party buffs, and explore formations to show off your ultimate skills in fierce battles.

Forum Thread: Eversoul (by Kakao Games Corp.)

Frozen City (Free)

iTunes Description

A city-building simulation game set in an ice and snow apocalypse. As the chief of the last town on Earth, you have to gather resources and rebuild society.

Collect resources, assign workers, explore the wilderness, conquer tough surroundings, and use various methods in order to survive.

Forum Thread: Frozen City (by Century Games)

Idle Bank Tycoon: Money Empire (Free)

iTunes Description

Are you ready for a brand new Idle Tycoon Game? Combine your passion for adventure & capitalism, get rich and become a money-mining tycoon! Meet our new Idle Bank – Money Tycoon game! Are you able to manage your own bank, get rich banker, and be a real billionaire? Try it right now!

Show the world what you are made of! Become a banking trading legend, define your own path and turn into the ultimate banking tycoon! It doesn’t matter if you become a millionaire or a billionaire, your bank will bring you huge capital every day.

Forum Thread: Idle Bank Tycoon: Money Empire (by Kolibri Games)

Light the Way – 10th Anniversary (Free)

iTunes Description

Light the Way brings a new twist to the classic memory game genre! A sequence of tiles will light up across the playing grid. It is your job to memorize which tiles light up and the order that they light up in, then recreate said sequence. Sounds easy, but as you reach higher difficulties, the playing grid becomes larger and the sequences longer, testing how effective your memory truly is!

Forum Thread: Light the Way (by Tyler Glessner)

Lillie is the Keeper ($1.99)

iTunes Description

The year is 1905. An uncanny catastrophe maroons Lillie Flora Pine in distant Switch Rock Light Station.

Where you go, Lillie goes—across the room, up the spiral stairs, or into the drink. Explore an atmospheric world between rolling seas and endless skies. Your iPhone or iPad is your controller. Examine objects. Operate machinery. Read logbooks. And try to ignore “Mrs. Noonday.”

Because Lillie is not an ordinary hero. Only 15, she suffers from intrusive thoughts. Now, they’re her only companion.

Because Lillie is the keeper.

Forum Thread: Lillie is the Keeper (by Matthew Rasmussen)

Metarails (Free)

iTunes Description

All train collectors, strategy players, and tycoon enthusiasts sit up! Metarails merges the best from classic tycoon games with the train collecting element, and brings it to mobile devices! The complex Metarails tabletop maps, copying real North American areas, are built to give you a relaxing yet immersive gaming experience. You can collect dozens of unique high-quality locomotives, and a variety of trains, and expand your train empire across a single-player campaign.

Forum Thread: Metarails (by Charged Monkey)

Mighty Aphid 2 ($1.99)

iTunes Description

It’s World War Worm! Victoria is under siege at the battle front. After a two year absence, Mighty Aphid returns to battle Lady Bug and her evil horde once again. This time, the villainess has created her own Mighty warriors to take on the pint-sized hero.

Run, shoot, swim, dash, and fly. Rescue the innocent. Fight mighty bosses. Earn powerful upgrades.

Forum Thread: Mighty Aphid 2 (by Cascadia Games)

Monopong (Free)

iTunes Description

Monopong is a minimalist arcade game a bit like that one with the ball and the paddles, but just for you.

Test your reactions with global leaderboards, and achievements throughout the game.

Forum Thread: Monopong (by Joel Collins)

Mutant Meltdown (Free)

iTunes Description

Mutant Meltdown is a fast-paced turn-based with roguelike elements in which you have a group of survivors in the aftermath of an apocalypse. The ultimate goal is to thrive with a stable colony. To survive, you must scavenge for supplies and deal with the mutants plaguing and roaming everywhere. Build, and upgrade your encampment and deal with fierce mutants, mutants bosses, mutants with guns, and much more!

Forum Thread: Mutant Meltdown (by GoldenGod Games)

Pocket GM 3: Football Manager ($1.99)

iTunes Description

Pocket GM returns giving you an even better opportunity to create a dominant football franchise. Sign, trade and draft players to win the Championship.

Following the success of Pocket GM 2021, it’s time to manage your very own American Football franchise once again!

Forum Thread: Pocket GM 3: Football Manager (by Jonathan Howell)

Resonance of the Ocean (Free)

iTunes Description

A sound reverberated from beyond the ocean.

At the edge of a desolate island, pick up what the waves wash ashore to make instruments. Use those instruments to answer the echoes heard from beyond the ocean.

In this hand-drawn world, enjoy a soothing soundscape formed by waves, footsteps and the sounds made from things washed up.

Forum Thread: Resonance of the Ocean (by Pujia8 Limited)

Rocco’s Island: Pocket Edition (Free)

iTunes Description

Join Evelyn on her quest to save a mysterious island in a puzzle-based atmospheric adventure with a story that spans across 30,000 years of time. Interact with fantastic characters to learn past secrets and transform the Four Elements’ kingdoms, leading up to an epic finale with shocking reveals.

It is YOU who triggered the end of days!

Forum Thread: Rocco’s Island (By Cogoo)

Subtransit Drive (Free)

iTunes Description

Feel what it’s like to drive a real train anytime and anywhere. Operate a vehicle with fully simulated internal systems in a highly realistic environment following a strict driving schedule and learning operating procedures on your own or with your friends in multiplayer.

Face the challenge of the rush hour while holding the master controller and maintaining the shortest possible interval between the others. The extraordinary freedom of controls operation presents the smallest aspects of the train’s handling. Configure the journey with your desired time, type of rolling stock, line congestion and starting location.

Forum Thread: Subtransit Drive (by Wagon Software)

Who Needs a Hero? (Free)

iTunes Description

A weak and naked adventurer seeking for fame, lots of gold and power!

The journey begins in Grimar, a Kingdom that has lived in peace for years. Peaceful and wealthy, travellers all around the world pass by there every single day. Until one day someone with incredible magical powers began to control monsters around the Kingdom, forcing them to attack and destroy the city. Now you must find out who’s behind these attacks and start writing your own story about the greatest, wealthy and famous warrior they’ve ever seen!

Forum Thread: Who Needs a Hero? (by Henrique Faitta Chitolina)

TouchArcade 2022 Game of the Year

Jared Nelson — Wed, 04 Jan 2023 18:26:00 +0000

Well here we are, 2022 is past us and we’re now on our way into 2023. As is always the case in the world of mobile gaming, there were A LOT of really great mobile games released in 2022. And it’s not just the games themselves but the landscape of mobile gaming always seems to be changing as well. Back in 2019 Apple Arcade launched and ushered in the subscription gaming format into the App Store. With Apple always holding its cards so close to its chest it’s hard to gauge how successful the service actually is, but one thing I can say for certain is that the Apple Arcade library is stuffed with some truly excellent games, both re-released classics and original stuff.

But something pretty interesting happened in 2022. Well, technically it started in late 2021, but 2022 was really where it came into its own. Netflix, known for their streaming video content service, launched their own gaming initiative on mobile devices. The deal is basically that anyone with an active Netflix subscription would be able to download a variety of games published under Netflix’s label in both the iOS and Android app stores, and then use their subscription login to be able to play those games in full with absolutely no ads or in-app purchases. While the Netflix Games service started off a bit slow on launch, in 2022 they seriously pumped out some hits, and it was common to see both them and Apple Arcade trading blows by announcing high-profile games headed to their respective services.

Of course this competition to outdo each other with big game releases meant that we gamers got to sit back and bask in all this gaming goodness. It also presented a problem in terms of an article like this one. We’ve long treated Apple Arcade like its own separate thing from “normal" App Store game releases, even giving it its own Game of the Year award in years past. So should we treat Netflix Games the same? It feels weird to give something like a Game of the Year award to a game locked behind a subscription since not everyone has the means or desire to subscribe to a service like that. So it’s always been very important to make sure our iPhone and iPad Games of the Year are normal releases that anyone can just download or buy, but we’d be excluding a lot of truly wonderful games if we didn’t have a way to consider games in subscription services.

So all this overly wordy explanation is to say that for this year’s Game of the Year we have an iPhone entry, an iPad entry, an Apple Arcade entry, and a brand new Netflix entry. All four of these categories had plenty of great games to choose from, and we’ll be putting together a big list of all the best games of 2022 across all of them in the very near future (we really ran short on time this year). For now just kick back and enjoy our various Game of the Year picks, and if your own picks differ from ours then feel free to sound off with what you would have picked down in the comments below.

iPhone Game of the Year 2022: ‘Marvel Snap’

MARVEL SNAP, Free – [Review] – When some key members behind the most popular digital card game of the past decade, Hearthstone, decide to strike off on their own and bring something new to the CCG genre, chances are pretty good that they’ll come up with something pretty good or, at the very least, unique. In the case of Second Dinner’s Marvel Snap, they accomplished both. Hearthstone proved that there was an appetite for a digital card game that could be played on mobile that wasn’t dumbed down to the point that it was no longer strategic, but it’s still a pretty complex game at its core, meaning it required a certain level of dedication to learn that a lot of more casual mobile gamers just didn’t have.

This I think is the main problem Second Dinner set out to address with Marvel Snap. Each player’s deck features just 12 cards, which is very easy to manage and just enough cards to still offer strategic variety. Games revolve around trying to win 2 of the 3 territories in each game, and each territory has its own special effects or parameters that also add to the strategy of the game. Finally there’s the “Snap" mechanic which is a risk/reward element that adds tremendous drama to every game. This simple set of core mechanics provides games that are competitive, exciting, and strategic, and the icing on the cake is that they only last a few minutes each.

All of this comes together to make for a pretty close to perfect mobile gaming experience. And that’s not even touching on the Marvel license that’s in play which means there are hundreds of well-known characters to draw from for cards, each with multiple versions perfect for upgrading those cards. This is all done within a free-to-play system that is very (perhaps overly) friendly, which also doesn’t mess up the balance or competitive nature of the game.

It’s hard to find much bad to say about Marvel Snap, at least at this point in time. I guess if you just plain don’t like card games this might not be for you? But also if that’s the case you might be pleasantly surprised to see how Marvel Snap can pull you in, even if you haven’t clicked with competitive card games in the past. I also suppose that there’s the possibility that too much new content or modes could muck up the simplicity of the game (Hearthstone has suffered from this a bit), or some new monetization method could muck up the current free to play system. But right here, right now, Marvel Snap is almost too good for words, and has risen above the many other great releases in 2022 to earn our Game of the Year nod. – Jared Nelson

iPad Game of the Year 2022: ‘Total War: MEDIEVAL II’

Total War: MEDIEVAL II, $14.99 – [Review] – [Kingdoms Review] – While we try to keep the iPad Game of the Year for iPad-only games like with Divinity Original Sin 2 last year, Total War: MEDIEVAL II surpassed our high expectations when it arrived earlier in 2022. Total War: MEDIEVAL II is one of Feral Interactive’s best conversions for iPad and mobile yet, and the Kingdoms expansion cemented it as one of the best strategy experiences you can have on iPad. It is playable on iPhone, but feels perfect on iPad with the larger canvas. It even excels above the PC original which is hard to go back to after experiencing the iPad version.

Feral Interactive is known for amazing conversions for mobile platforms, but Total War: MEDIEVAL II with its Kingdoms expansions feels like a cut above everything else so far. It may not be as graphically impressive as Alien: Isolation from the same publisher, but the deep strategic gameplay and all the new enhancements for the iOS version make it an easy recommendation to not only fans of the genre, but also newcomers looking to sample the best it has to offer. I can’t wait to see what Feral Interactive has in store for us in 2023. Total War: MEDIEVAL II is easily our favorite iPad game of 2022. – Mikhail Madnani

Apple Arcade Game of the Year 2022: ‘Horizon Chase 2’

Horizon Chase 2, – [Review] – The original Horizon Chase first launched the better part of a decade ago, and it has seen a constant barrage of new content via frequent updates over the years. It’s the kind of game that’s difficult to top, but somehow Aquiris Studio did just that with Horizon Chase 2. The first thing you’re likely to notice is that this sequel features a more realistic and impressive visual style over its predecessor, but somehow it manages to still feel neo-retro the same way that first game did. For my money this is one of the more graphically impressive games on Apple Arcade.

Next is an online component that many fans of the first game had clamored for, as well as some robust vehicle customization and upgrade options. When it comes to the gameplay though, they didn’t try to fix what wasn’t broken. This is an arcade racer through and through, with a tremendous sense of speed and a massive new World Tour to play through featuring tons of excellent new tracks to race. Horizon Chase 2 can be described with just two words: More and better. That is generally my favorite approach for a sequel to a game I adored, and that formula worked perfectly to make this our overall favorite Apple Arcade game of 2022. – Jared Nelson

Netflix Game of the Year 2022: ‘Poinpy’

NETFLIX Poinpy, Free – [Review] – Following up Downwell was never going to be an easy task, but developer Ojiro Fumoto pulled it off with Poinpy. In some ways it’s the obvious twist on its spiritual predecessor. Instead of going down a well, you’re going up one. But even that choice was going to be a more difficult thing to sell players on. Falling is easy, falling with style slightly harder. Climbing takes a bit more work, and climbing with style hasn’t been successfully pulled off since Sylvester Stallone rocked the box office with Cliffhanger in 1993.

Poinpy isn’t as easy to take to as Downwell as a result, but it’s equally rewarding to stick with. At first you’re just trying to stay alive by climbing up as quickly as possible, hoping to stay ahead of the pursuing beast as long as possible. Then you start making combos. Then you start making specific kinds of combos. Then you unlock some new abilities and upgrades. A steady curve up the hill, and one that consistently makes you feel the mastery you’re slowly building up. Throw in some extra modes to keep the good times rolling after you’ve finished the game and an incredibly charming presentation, and you’ve got a fantastic reason to subscribe to Netflix. – Shaun Musgrave

Previous Game of the Year Picks:

An End of Year Homecoming – The TouchArcade Show #547

Jared Nelson — Sat, 31 Dec 2022 01:01:19 +0000

Wow, after a month-long hiatus, the TouchArcade Show returns just in time for the end of 2022! As a special year-end treat, former TouchArcade writer and current public relations expert Carter Dotson joins the show, and a wild Mikhail also makes an appearance for a bit in the middle of the program. All that’s missing is a visit from Shaun but, alas, it was like 3am in Japan when we recorded this, and while I’m sure he loves us so much I’m not sure he loves us “wake up at 3am to record a podcast" much. Next time Shaun!

This episode is mostly just us shooting the breeze about all sorts of stuff. I talk about moving back into my house after being gone for just shy of a year while it was being remodeled. We talk about the recent-ish Game Awards show and some of the games we’re looking forward to. Then we go into some Steam Deck and Nintendo Switch discussion, talking about our favorite aspects of each system and what the future might hold for both. All that, and more! So sit back and enjoy our latest episode and I hope everyone has a happy and safe New Year! See you in 2023!

Stitcher: The TouchArcade Show via Stitcher Radio for Podcasts
RSS Feed: The TouchArcade Show
Direct Link: TouchArcadeShow-547.mp3

TouchArcade Game of the Week: ‘Pine Tar Poker’

Jared Nelson — Sat, 24 Dec 2022 01:00:46 +0000

It’s a bit of a sleepy time for releases right now what with the holidays and the end of the year approaching fast, but that’s alright by me because one of my most anticipated upcoming games decided to launch out of nowhere this week. That game is Pine Tar Poker from developer BJ Malicoat. You may remember us talking about this one back in August when the game was in open beta, and after not hearing much about its progress since I kind of started to worry something might be awry, so I was thankful to see the game finished up and released this week.

So to recap, Pine Tar Poker is something of a hybrid between traditional Poker and Yahtzee. Your goal for each game is to make a number of different hands that are either straight up Poker hands or slight variations of them. Points are awarded for each hand based on which cards you used to make them, and you also have the titular Pine Tar hand which is basically your one get out of jail free card when you fail to come up with any of the other hands you’re shooting for. If you fail to make one of the needed hands, and you have no Pine Tar hand to fall back on, the game will end with your final score recorded and a number of special coins doled out.

These coins are where things get extra interesting in Pine Tar Poker. They can be used to purchase a number of items from the bartender, from something mundane like a pencil so you can keep track of which cards from the deck have been dealt to magical runes that will grant you special powers to help sway the game in your favor. You can also buy tokens that let you upgrade individual cards, and together with unlocking trinkets and whatnot, the progression system in Pine Tar Poker is the kind of thing that keeps drawing me back over and over again.

In addition to all of this, there’s some lore to the game’s universe and definitely some otherworldly things going on that you will learn more about the deeper you get into the game. I love Pine Tar Poker just for its novel spin on Poker mechanics, and it’s the kind of thing I’ll always be happy to bust out for a game or five, but I’m also extremely drawn in by the mystery of all the peripheral stuff going on. It feels like a video game that would exist in the X-Files universe or something. So if you have a handful of dollars to spare and enjoy a unique card game with plenty of personality, I can easily recommend giving Pine Tar Poker a shot.

New “Blacksail” Season of ‘Torchlight Infinite’ Kicks Off on January 12th with Tons of New Content and Features

Jared Nelson — Fri, 23 Dec 2022 21:53:44 +0000

After years of soft launches and beta tests, the long-awaited Torchlight Infinite finally launched globally back in October. Or, well, kinda. I guess developer XD Network still refers to that launch as an open beta, but at the very least it meant that players all over the world would be able to get their hands on this highly anticipated loot-based dungeon crawler. After all that build-up and buzz prior to launch, I haven’t really been able to tell how well the game has been received since launching. Perhaps I’m just not sticking my nose in the right corners of the mobile gaming world, but whatever the case XD has lifted the veil off of Torchlight Infinite’s first big update. It will bring with it a new season titled Blacksail as well as lots of new content and features. Here’s a teaser trailer.

The big piece of new content here will be the Void Sea storyline where players have a chance to earn loot drops with special “Void Sea Night Flame" affixes when defeating monsters in the Netherrealm map. After beating the stage’s final boss, a special “Void Sea Seal" device will drop and you can use a Void Sea Night Flame to break the seal and unlock a special Seal Whisper. Break 6 seals and you’ll be able to visit the Void Sea End Port to challenge the Bride of Void Sea and try to steal her treasure. Defeating her may also land you a Void Sea Invitation which you will need in order to challenge the season’s final boss Lord of Void Sea, who is packing all sorts of Legendary loot for you to pilfer if you can beat him.

This season will also feature two new items: Hero Relics and Hero Memories. Each character can equip one Hero Relic, and that has up to 3 slots where you can attach Hero Memories to augment your build in various ways. This update will also introduce 5 new main Skills: Moon Strike, Howling Gale, Thunder Slash, Blazing Bullet, and Haunting Abomination. Due to player requests, controller support will also be added for players on PC, making Torchlight Infinite Steam Deck friendly. Strangely it doesn’t specify if that controller support will also extend to the mobile versions, so we’ll just have to wait and see. Would be weird if it didn’t though, right? The end of the current season also means season rewards will be dished out for players of the first season, so look forward to this new Blacksail season kicking off in the game on January 12th.

The Charming ‘Bus Simulator City Ride’ Gets a New Lite Version Letting You to Take a Trip for Free

Jared Nelson — Thu, 22 Dec 2022 21:16:58 +0000

Unless 18 Wheeler: American Pro Trucker on the SEGA Dreamcast counts, I haven’t really been that into the multitude of different “simulator" games over the years. Actually, come to think of it, I have played a fair amount of Desert Bus too, and that’s probably the most literal version of a driving simulator out there. Anyway, while certain simulator games have been around for decades it feels like it’s been in more recent years where this type of genre really exploded, offering virtual representations of all sorts of activities from gardening to firefighting to cleaning pools and more. I get the appeal, but like I said it’s never really been my thing.

That changed however when I got my hands on Bus Simulator City Ride from Astragon Entertainment which launched this past October. I’m not sure what it was about this particular game that grabbed me but boy did I have a hard time putting it down. The actual driving mechanics are really fun and filled with lots of charming details like having to wake up a rider who has fallen asleep or listening in on the amusing conversations of your passengers. Accompanying this is an expert progression system that sees you achieving various goals, gaining experience, leveling up to unlock new rides and locations, and more. I think it’s this progression system more than anything that hooked me on Bus Simulator City Ride. It’s very good at dangling carrots for you that have you telling yourself “Oh, just ONE more route!" when it’s 1 in the morning.

Now you can see firsthand what I’m talking with no monetary obligation thanks to a new lite version released this week. Bus Simulator Lite gives you access to 2 different buses and the first 4 missions of the campaign to decide if this is your sort of thing or not. If you like it you can even upgrade to the full version of the game from within the lite version, so no need to delete and start over with a different app. There’s some other currency-type IAP in both versions of the game, but so far for me it’s been entirely unnecessary.

Astragon makes a lot of simulation games, so for all I know this is how they’ve all been this whole time and I’ve just not realized what I’ve been missing. Whatever the case I’m glad that one of these finally sunk its hooks into me as I get a major kick driving around all these interesting Nordic-inspired virtual cities and aiming for a high driver rating by following the rules of the road. Whether you’re already a big fan of these simulators or you’re looking for a good starting point to get into one, I think you should take some time to explore the lite version of Bus Simulator City Ride.

Out Now: ‘Pine Tar Poker’, ‘Hover League’, ‘Epic Battle Fantasy 5’, ‘Rage Night’, ‘Quantum Storm’, ‘Jinshin’, ‘ERROR143’, ‘Trial of Dragon’ and More

Jared Nelson — Thu, 22 Dec 2022 06:23:00 +0000

Crush the Monsters: Cannon Game (Free)

iTunes Description

Make mincemeat out of monsters! In this action puzzle game, you can destroy a variety of monsters in many different ways — blow them up with cannon fire, incinerate them, smash them, chop, saw or tear them to pieces (and that’s not nearly all!) And if regular monsters are too simple for your tastes, test your mettle against the epic bosses of the Underworld!

Forum Thread: Crush the Monsters: Cannon Game (by HeroCraft Ltd.)

Epic Battle Fantasy 5 (Free)

iTunes Description

Epic Battle Fantasy 5 is an offline turn-based RPG adventure, full of video game references, juvenile dialogue, and anime fanservice (…and also strategic combat, monster catching, and tons of treasure hunting – if you’re into any of those.)

Forum Thread: Epic Battle Fantasy 5 (by Matthew Roszak)

ERROR143 (Free)

iTunes Description

A bickering and bantering rivals-to-lovers hacking game!

Your rival just bested you in a hacking competition. Were you going to be a sane person and let that slide? NO WAY! You hack into his database and leave him a little message, proving your superiority.

–but what’s this? He’s hacked you back?

Well, two can play this game.

Forum Thread: ERROR143 (by Jenny Pham)

Hover League (Free)

iTunes Description

Welcome to Hover League – compete with people all around the world, in a new unique track every day!

Fine-tune your racing lines to achieve the best possible time, and make your way up the Leagues!

Choose your vehicle and character, jump in, and join the fun!

Forum Thread: Hover League (by Wild Spark)

Jinshin ($7.99)

iTunes Description

Jinshin is a JRPG based on an ancient-themed fantasy tale of when Kami deities lived alongside humans.
Mikazuchi, a man of sword mastery and wisdom, joins the Amaterasu Clan to save his master from Onigami Ichigan, the head of an ominous force. When the war is done, will peace or chaos reign supreme?

Make use of tactician Mikazuchi’s orders and gain powerful formation effects to turn the tide of battle in turn-based battles full of ambiance and strategy. Use materials to craft equipment and unlock Kami Arts within weapons to unleash extremely powerful skills. Learn magic arts from Tsukumo Kami hiding all over the world, and focus on developing your village through commands to receive rewards and learn new crafting formulas.

Forum Thread: Jinshin (by KEMCO/EXE-CREATE)

o-o-o ($1.99)

iTunes Description

The essential turning point strategy game!

Keep the board moving as you rotate discs to chain colors, connect corners and rack up high scores. Keep a level head under pressure as you clear as many lines as possible.

Earn perks to improve your chances, including Rewind giving you a second shot, Rainbow to chain with any color, and Bombs to clear out the board.

Combine perks and discover new tactics – drop a Rainbow and Rewind for better placement, or Rewind drop a Bomb? The choice is yours.

Forum Thread: o-o-o (by Play XD)

Pine Tar Poker ($3.99)

iTunes Description

Welcome partner. We don’t have much around here, but we still like a lil entertainment every now and then.

Grab that deck a cards and the paper there, let me teach ya a game. Now this here game ain’t gonna get ya in touch with the rhythm of the universe, but it might just put a smile on yer face.

If ya think magick might help ya win… well partner, ya just might be right…

Forum Thread: Pine Tar Poker (by BJ Malicoat)

Quantum Storm ($3.99)

iTunes Description

The Quantum Computer has become self-aware!
Destroy its image library before it learns enough to take over the world…

Breakout Arcade Game with 300 retro levels prepared by Clive Townsend, famous 8-bit game designer.

Forum Thread: Quantum Storm (by MobileFabric)

Rage Night (Free)

iTunes Description

A mysterious cosmic Fight Promoter has recruited the greatest brawlers, warriors and misfits from across the galaxy to battle it out in RAGE NIGHT! Experience the best in Real Action Galactic Entertainment with the most-transmitted martial arts tournament in the sector! Fighters must hone their skills to discover new mystical abilities and master the deadliest weapons on this or any planet. Be ready to place your bets and follow the action live and online as these intergalactic warriors go head-to-head in this season’s RAGE NIGHT!

Forum Thread: Rage Night (by Netcode Studios)

Saboteur! ($4.99)

iTunes Description

Saboteur! is the classic retro game hit made by Clive Townsend in 1985 for the ZX Spectrum 8-bit computer. In 1985 Saboteur! received the prestigious award “The Crash Smash" from Crash magazine and was high-rated with a 93% score.

Now after 36 years MobileFabric in collaboration with Clive Townsend have prepared the special remastered version of Saboteur! for iOS devices.

In the game you’ll experience the original mission from 1985 version. Additionally the story will continue with new levels and enemies. Now you’ll be able to know more about Saboteur and his dark and secret story.

Forum Thread: Saboteur! (by MobileFabric)

SpaceLander ($0.99)

iTunes Description

Inspired by the 1970s arcade classic ‘Lunar Lander’, the goal of SpaceLander is the same: land in one piece!

Control your fragile lander using one thumb (or finger) to fire the four directional thrusters. The entire touchscreen is a single button. Swipe and hold for longer burns – but watch your fuel…

Forum Thread: SpaceLander (by John McNamara)

Train Simulator Pro USA (Free)

iTunes Description

Tracks. Diesel. Railroad. Huge Map of the USA. Train Cars. Coal, Tractor or even Tank Freight. Authentic Stations. Realistic Locomotives. Picturesque Scenery. Passenger Wagons. Railway Turntable. Air Brakes. Long Haul. Open World. FREE. With lots of Air Hissing and Steam. The list goes on and on. Don’t hesitate no more – just download now!

Forum Thread: Train Simulator Pro USA (by Mageeks SC)

Trial of Dragon (Free)

iTunes Description

This is a pixel style classic turn based strategy (SLG) game. You need to form a multi-class team to adventure. With the Roguelike each game map is random, challenging different enemies, defeating the powerful Boss, obtaining various props and equipment, and upgrading heroes of each class.

Forum Thread: Trial of Dragon (by Jampot Software Co., Ltd)

2020 Super Baseball ACA NEOGEO ($3.99)

iTunes Description

2020 SUPER BASEBALL is a baseball game released by SNK in 1991.
In the near future, there are two leagues with 6 teams each. Players pick their team, and compete for the championship. As the game progresses, landmines will be set up on the field, and armor can be purchased during games to reinforce players. These unique aspects make for a very different baseball experience!

Forum Thread: 2020 Super Baseball ACA NEOGEO (by SNK)

‘Hoop Land’ is a New Basketball Title from ‘Prizefighters’ Developer Koality Games, Now in Open Beta on iOS and Android

Jared Nelson — Wed, 21 Dec 2022 22:02:02 +0000

We are big fans of Koality Games and their unique takes on mobile sports games. There’s the two excellent Prizefighters boxing games, a trio of basketball games including the unique Hoop League Tactics, and most recently an arcade-y take on ice hockey with last year’s Ice League Hockey. So out of all these Hoop League Tactics was perhaps the most unique in that it imagined the game of basketball as a turn-based tactical strategy game and, despite the real sport of basketball being near-constant fast-paced action, somehow this approach totally worked. However, some players requested a hoops game with proper real-time action, and with the release of Ice League Hockey last year with its fast-paced hockey gameplay, that gave those players something to point to and go “That, but basketball!" Well Koality is hoping to oblige those requests with the upcoming Hoop Land, check out an early trailer.

So right now Hoop Land is basically just one big practice mode, but you can already see the gameplay has a very arcade-y and slightly exaggerated style, just like Ice League Hockey. If there’s one thing Koality excels at it’s finding that core mix of enjoyable gameplay mechanics and then building numerous modes and progression systems on top of it to give players a really full-featured package. If you want to check out this early version of Hoop Land you can do so with the Testflight beta for iOS or the Google Play beta for Android, and then be sure to provide any feedback for Koality in the game’s forum thread. The plan is to release the full game at some point in the first half of 2023 and I’m personally very excited to see what Hoop Land has in store when it launches next year.

‘Daily Dadish’ Features a New Level Every Day for an Entire Year, Coming to Mobile, Switch, and PC February 8th

Jared Nelson — Tue, 20 Dec 2022 00:16:55 +0000

One of the more pleasant surprises over the past few years has been the Dadish series from developer Thomas K. Young. Starring the titular radish dad, the trilogy of Dadish games has consistently provided top-notch platforming and plenty of goofy humor, typically delivered by Dadish’s multitude of charming and mischievous children. Now after three full level-based games, Dadish is making a return in a slightly different way with the upcoming Daily Dadish. Inspired by his daily Wordle habit, Young has created a game with 365 hand-crafted levels where a new level becomes available each day. Check out the trailer.

One of the more interesting wrinkles here is that, similar to Wordle, each level will only be playable for that one day. You’ll be able to compete for completion times and earn medals for every level throughout that day, but once it’s gone it’s gone. Well, as far as I can tell. Perhaps there is or will be some sort of archive that will let you play through previous levels, but I think the main idea here is to get you to check in each and every day for your little dose of Dadish fun like millions of us do with Wordle and similar games as an incentive to not miss out. I like the idea very much! Look for Daily Dadish to launch early next year on February 8th on mobile, PC, and Switch.