Touch Arcade

How Long Do You Feel Entitled to Updates After Buying an iOS Game? Posted: 19 Feb 2015 12:17 PM PST If you talk to a lot of iOS developers like we do, it seems like one thing most of them wrestle with is how to deal with consumer expectations. The early days of the App Store were a brutal mosh pit of developers throwing their elbows in the form of dropping prices, constant update schedules, and doing everything they could to win over a potential fan base. Sales for literally any reason practically became a running joke and games like Pocket God [$0.99] were a big part of what pioneered the whole "Pay us 99¢ and we'll update a game for the rest of your life" mentality that seems to have stuck with a lot of iOS gamers. If you follow our forums, you'll see some of our veteran community members with signatures poking fun at the fact that your game better not cost anything more than a dollar, be infinitely replayable, and have content/compatibility updates for so long they can pass them on to their children. Joke or not, there's a glimmer of truth in that those sorts of expectations. In a way, the iOS market has responded with free to play as a way to meet these demands. On the App Store, you get your biggest burst of sales when you launch- Particularly if you're lucky enough to get featured. It doesn't take long for the coffers to dry up even with a "successful" 99¢ game if you're committed to supporting it. With rare exception, sales rarely peak again following your launch, and all "premium" priced games will eventually hit their point where it's just not worth it for developers to continue spending time on an old project when they could get that post-launch burst again with a new one. Free to play has "solved" this problem by giving developers lots of different promotional tricks to keep their playerbase constant, and through the wonders of free to play monetization, actually encourages them to meet the demands of iOS gamers with constant content and compatibility updates. In the world of free to play, you need players playing forever, so you've got to give them new content to play through and make sure things work on their new iPhones and iOS updates- Essentially checking all the checkboxes of the iOS gamer expectations sheet and even at a price point that's lower than 99¢. The recent drama surrounding Square Enix's The World Ends With You has brought the update argument to the forefront once again. Originally released in August of 2012 for $17.99, the game has been completely broken by Apple through changes made in iOS 8 two years later in September of 2014. Recently, the game's iTunes description was modified mentioning that they knew it was broken in iOS 8 and were "investigating the matter." Since then, the game has been pulled from the App Store and Square Enix has offered conflicting answers regarding whether or not it would be fixed or if the game was gone for good. This has people pretty upset, as Square's games are among the most expensive games you can buy on the App Store. Even launching at less than half of the price of the original $39.99 Nintendo DS game, The World Ends With You was in the upper echelon of iOS game pricing at $17.99. What complicates the issue further is that there's a simple Jailbreak tweak that fixes The World Ends With You in iOS 8. The problem with that simple tweak is that the phrase "simple tweak" simply doesn't exist inside of studios the size of Square Enix. They're a company with multi-national offices, layers of middle management, and everything else that comes with an old school Japanese game studio. Additionally, it wouldn't surprise me at all to find out iOS development at Square Enix, like many large studios we work with, is basically treated as an afterthought with a unbelievably small team. A "simple tweak" for them likely involves multiple meetings between layers of the company, budgeting developer time, potentially familiarizing the developers with the existing 2.5 year old source code, an internal QA/playtesting process, and who knows what else. I don't have any specific insider knowledge about Squeenix specifically, but I have been blown away by the kind of things other similarly sized studios do, so nothing would surprise me anymore. But, anyway, to bring this back of the point of this whole post- How long do you feel entitled for updates to iOS games? It almost feels like a lot of this outrage surrounding The World Ends With You is just because people were reminded that the game doesn't work anymore. At the rate iOS games get released, and how long ago TWEWY came out, it seems incredibly safe to assume the overwhelming vast majority of people with the game bought it quite literally years ago, played it, stuffed it in a folder or deleted it, and forgot about it. Looking at how the game was charting prior to its removal, there wasn't any kind of sales surge to speak of. The App Store as a whole largely just seemed to have forgot about The World Ends With You. While I agree that it sucks that something you bought (particularly towards the top-end of the App Store pricing scale) doesn't work on your brand new iPhone, it's not like this is a new phenomenon. Incredibly high profile games get pulled from the App Store, quit getting supported, and stop working all the time. Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 hit the App Store in 2010, and has been broken and gone for years. Geometry Wars: Touch was my favorite dual stick shooter on iOS, it's also totally broken in recent iOS updates and removed from the App Store. NBA Jam is still on the App Store, but it's been almost unplayably broken for years. Super Crate Box is a similar story in that it's been nearly unplayable due to lack of widescreen support for years with update plans that keep slipping. The problem comes down to the fact that it's really hard to know what to expect on iOS, or be able to realistically expect on iOS, as there has never been a platform like this before. While technically one platform united by the App Store, significant annual upgrades in the form of both software and hardware make comparisons to PC games or console really difficult to make. If you read this far, mention the color green in your comment. Among arguments about why Squeenix needs to fix TWEWY are how this would never happen with a console game, which works as long as you own the console. That's true, but imagine how messy things would get if every fall there was a new Xbox and every summer there was a totally new Xbox dashboard. Personally, I think the only expectation iOS gamers should have is that this game that I'm downloading works right now on the device I plan to play it on. Any more than that is just setting yourself up for disappointment. Digital platforms, particularly ones that move as fast as iOS are horrible for gamers interested in archiving or maintaining some kind of collection. If that's the kind of gamer you are, and you want games that you know for sure will work years from now, you need to buy physical copies of games on the closed platforms that consoles offer. Even that isn't a sure bet anymore, as if you really loved the Halo 2's online multiplayer, that's too bad as the servers have been shut down for years now. Things are only going to get worse as modern console games wander further down the path of tight online integration and connectivity requirements. It's sad to think of all the classic iOS games which just don't exist anymore, and the ones that can't run on new hardware, but I guess that's just the price of progress with how quickly mobile technology is advancing.

SNK and DotEmu's 'Garou: Mark of the Wolves' Hits iOS with Online Multiplayer Posted: 19 Feb 2015 11:12 AM PST Another straggler from last night's releases has made its way out worldwide. DotEmu and SNK have collaborated to release another classic Neo-Geo fighting game on to iOS, this time bringing Garou: Mark of the Wolves [ ] on the go. The really exciting feature here is the inclusion of Game Center online multiplayer for the first time in one of these DotEmu ports. Implementing online multiplayer in an emulated game is far from impossible - GGPO started out as an emulation tool for just this, and turned into a key game development tool for those who make fighting games with online play. However, this is one of the first emulated games to have online multiplayer on iOS. The player base is a bit limited at launch, so our forum thread might be a good spot to hit up some matches. Otherwise, there's the standard array of features for a DotEmu SNK port: the entire classic arcade game, with different virtual control options available to use. And if you have an MFi controller, this supports it. Expect challenging and unforgiving gameplay that will likely take a lot of practice to master, especially if you're not well-versed in SNK fighting games. Still, it's well-known for pushing the aging Neo-Geo hardware to the limits, and its animations and visuals look great even today.

Ultra-Stylish Endless Side-Scroller 'Alto's Adventure' Now Available Posted: 19 Feb 2015 10:00 AM PST If you hit up our weekly new game release post looking for the stylish endless snowboarding game Alto's Adventure [$1.99] and panicked when you didn't see it, fear not: The game is now officially available in the App Store. We've had our eye on Alto's Adventure from developer Snowman, Inc. since they first began teasing the game last fall. It utilizes a very attractive art style that's reminiscent of thatgamecompany's 2012 PlayStation hit Journey, which Snowman has indeed cited as an inspiration. Gameplay-wise, Alto's Adventure is very similar to the excellent Ski Safari [$0.99]. Your character moves to the right automatically, while tapping the screen makes him jump and holding down on the screen while in the air performs a backflip. I've only spent a little bit of time with Alto's Adventure so far, but there's a lot to like here. I haven't found it the most challenging game, but the overall experience of playing is really enjoyable. The visuals really are incredible, and there's tons of tiny details throughout, like the different lighting depending on the time of day and the excellent animations of the characters. It feels like one of those games that has some hidden tricks up its sleeve, so I'll be diving in and playing some more. Impressions in our forums are highly positive, so if you like the look of Alto's Adventure I'd definitely recommend taking it for a spin.

'Evil Genius Online' Brings Another Classic PC Game to the Wacky World of Free to Play Posted: 19 Feb 2015 09:54 AM PST We posted about it late last year, and if today's weird news about The World Ends With You isn't enough to get you nice and angry on the internet, this surely will- Remember Dungeon Keeper [Free]? The mobile free to play mutation of one of Peter Molyneux's most beloved games? Well, Evil Genius Online [Free] is basically the same deal, although arguably more emotionally confusing as instead of being a mobile iteration of a similar game with the same title, Evil Genius Online is the PC game Evil Genius decorated like some kind of evil Christmas tree where you decided to use IAP and timers instead of ornaments and lights. It's too bad too, because Evil Genius was a really cool game back in the day. If you've never heard of it, the premise is pretty sweet- As the title suggests, you're an evil genius and you're in charge of building an evil lair. Of course things are never that easy and your evil lair is just under constant bombardment from the forces of good in the world who aren't wild about you setting up shop. So, you need to build your lair with loads of defenses to keep your evil plans secure. On PC, it was awesome. On mobile, with multiple currencies, timers, and all the free to play trimmings... Well, at least it's free. I don't mean to be too much of a downer on this, I'm sure there are people out there who will be totally stoked to play this as if you can deal with all the gross free to play stuff there still is a neat game hidden in there somewhere. What sucks is I always had hopes and dreams for all these old PC games I loved eventually popping up on the iPad. I'd do terrible filthy things for ports of the original Fallout games, for instance... But if they came to iOS as free to play timer-laden games? Well, to quote the Wachowskis:

'Swap Heroes 2' Review - Meet the New 'Swap', Same as the old 'Swap' Posted: 19 Feb 2015 09:07 AM PST If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Swap Heroes [$0.99] was a solid game that combined a strategic quick-play focus with plenty of RPG elements. Swap Heroes 2 [$2.99] does pretty much the same thing - it's the same gameplay, where one hero dying means game over. There are a new set of heroes with new abilities to use, but largely balanced in similar ways. The changes here are structural, and that's not a knock on Swap Heroes 2: it's kind of like when a band releases an album a year after their previous one. It's not a huge jump, but you can often tell where refinements and improvements exist, and Swap Heroes 2 is just a better game. The gameplay is really quite similar to the original: you control a team of four heroes, with three on the front line and one in the rear. Each turn, you can swap two heroes' positions, with rear-to-front swaps channeling a character's special ability. As such, each decision is important as you have no room for error when a character dies, that's game over. There's still great pixel art here, with colorful sprites for both player characters and enemies. And the soundtrack has a particularly Super Nintendo feel to it, which is a welcome stylistic flourish to it. The big change is that the game is now separated into 4 main sets of 2 levels each, with 25 enemies to defeat in each level to beat it. These sets have 3 difficulties to defeat, with two reasons to play on harder difficulties: one, you get bonus stars which can power up your team's stats. Two, you need 10 stars out of the maximum 12 in order to unlock the final boss. So, yeah, it's worth getting those stars. But as the bonuses make it much easier to beat later levels, it's naturally worth replaying earlier levels to get those boosts to health or attack. I enjoy this progression system for two reasons. One, the game allows for a greater feeling of progress versus having to play everything over again and again like in the original. Two, it means that there's a variety of things to do, there's less of a brick wall to hit when you have several options of things to do. You have to do well in order to hit that final boss, but there's multiple ways there. Also, the endless mode is a great addition for many reasons. One, it serves as great replay value for if you beat the game, you have something to do. If you're trying out a team's quirks, you can do so here. The stat boosts don't apply, so you don't have to play through earlier levels on harder difficulties, and you can't win just by 3-starring everything, if you can. You have to earn your high scores here, though with character unlocks happening throughout the campaign, you are incentivized to beat all four of the five starting level sets. But it won't net you any advantages. Really, Swap Heroes 2's star feature and key flaw is that it didn't change much. If you liked the original and just wanted the game to change around the structural experience a bit, which can have a huge impact on how a game is enjoyed, then you'll dig this. If you never played the original, might as well jump straight into this as it's the better game, with its tweaks. It also runs at 60 frames per second where the original didn't until a post-launch update. But if you didn't like the original game, there's nothing here in terms of the gameplay that will really convince you that, hey, you'll like this a lot better. But I still love the core gameplay of Swap Heroes 2, I love the fact that it's such a pick-up-and-play friendly RPG-style experience with plenty of strategy to it. I love the pixel art and chiptunes art aesthetic that this game has. This sequel is just a small step forward, not a huge leap. And considering that it's less than a year later, that's far from a bad thing!

Classic iOS Puzzler 'Drop7' Updated Four Years Later Posted: 19 Feb 2015 08:06 AM PST Originally released all the way back in 2009, Drop7 [Free] was among the first batch of truly unique puzzlers to hit the App Store. It's so old it's amusing to go back and look at our original coverage of the game here on TouchArcade, before I seized control and whipped this place into shape. This was our original review of Drop7. Anyway, back in 2011-ish, Zynga had tons of cash and was buying up anything they could to make their big splash into the world of mobile gaming. A few dump trucks full of money later and Drop7 was officially a Zynga title. ...Then it sat largely undisturbed for four years until recently when it was unexpectedly updated. What's in the update? Essentially, nothing major, they just brought the game up to speed with what you'd expect out of a mobile puzzler in 2015. According to the "What's New" text on iTunes, this is through the utilization of brand new technology, which seems like a real odd way to phrase it- Like someone has been working in the sub-basements of the Zynga laboratories for years and finally cracked the technology needed to update such an ancient iOS game. Anyway, given how old Drop7 is now, I'd say there's a very good chance a lot of people around here haven't played it yet. Don't let the Zynga dog scare you away, this is a supremely solid puzzle game that has seen a stupid amount of critical acclaim. It's an original classic of iOS, and I'm thankful for the new technology that allowed them to keep the game technically relevant all these years later.

It's Official: No One, Not Even Square Enix, Has A Clue What's Going On With 'The World Ends With You' Posted: 19 Feb 2015 07:23 AM PST Okay, this is getting to be one twist too many even for an RPG fan like me. Last night, we brought you word that The World Ends With You seemed to be officially binned, leaving it broken from iOS 8 forward. Both the North American and Japanese support sites for Square Enix seem to state rather clearly that the game is off the App Store, not to return. That's that. Except wait, something doesn't fit. Square Enix's European support site is saying that the game is only suspended rather than discontinued, and the wording seems to suggest that an update will still be coming, at which point service will resume? Interestingly, this notice seems to be newer than that on the other sites, ruling out that this is simply reflecting last week's story. Friends, your guess is as good as mine at this stage. So I guess we can't fully count The World Ends With You out yet. I would suggest continuing to civilly let Square Enix know how you feel and keep watching TouchArcade for updates on TWEWY's status when the wind changes direction again.

Five Alarm Freebie Alert: 'Frozen Synapse' Goes Free For The First Time Posted: 19 Feb 2015 07:00 AM PST Hello, friends. Do you like strategy games? Have you somehow avoided playing the excellent Frozen Synapse from Mode 7? Are you in favor of saving some money? If you answered yes to all of those questions, today is your day! Both the iPad version [Free (HD)] and the iPhone version [Free] have dropped from their regular prices of $9.99 and $2.99 respectively. Frozen Synapse is a very deep, very fun strategy game that originally released on PC in May 2011. It made its way to the iPad in 2013, followed by the iPhone version just last month. Though there are separate apps for each version, cross-play is supported between them and the PC version. This is a great opportunity to pick up whichever versions you might have missed out on so that you can play the game on all of your devices. As for the occasion, I can only speculate that it's for one of two reasons. There's a good chance this is part of the amazing celebrations leading up to the coming birthday of TouchArcade's Evil Wizard Behind The Curtain, Eli Hodapp. I suppose it might also be that developer Mode 7 is launching their newest game, Frozen Cortex, on PC and Mac tomorrow, but really, how likely is that? I'm definitely going with the former. Either way, grab the version of your choice and have some fun!

Square Enix Flip Flops Again: After Being Pulled from the App Store 'The World Ends with You' Won't Be Updated to Support iOS 8? Posted: 18 Feb 2015 09:26 PM PST In what is turning into a bigger set of mind-games than the one that plays out in the game itself, Square Enix has announced on both its English and Japanese support pages that service for The World Ends With You: Solo Remix has come to an end. They go on to say that although the game will still work if you have it downloaded (unless you're on iOS 8 or higher, I suppose), it will no longer be able to be downloaded from here on out. I'm guessing they mean no new purchases, since it's still showing up in purchase histories, but it might be wise to back it up at this point if you haven't already. This whole affair is starting to become a soap opera. The World Ends With You was one of Square Enix's many games that didn't work with iOS 8 due to certain file system changes. A few weeks ago, some fans who were tired of waiting for Square Enix to update the game sent in emails asking what the status was, only to be told by a representative from the North American branch that the game would not be getting updated at all. People were understandably upset, as the game isn't very old, carried a premium price, and from the sounds of things, restoring compatibility involves a relatively minor fix that the jailbreak community has already figured out. I decided to follow up with Square Enix Japan, and was told a few days later that an update was definitely coming, but it was uncertain when it would be finished. Some other members of the community received similar emails in the following days from the English side of Square Enix, and it looked like all was well in the kingdom once again. The game was pulled from the App Store late last week, which I had assumed was a temporary measure to prevent anyone from buying it while it was broken, a procedure we often see with companies like id Software when compatibility breaks. Instead, if this week's story is to be believed, this is going to be permanent, leaving The World Ends With You: Solo Remix forever broken from iOS 8 forward. It's a pretty crummy thing to do given the circumstances, so I guess we'll have to hope the story changes again. In the mean time, it couldn't hurt to politely let Square Enix know what you think about the situation via Twitter, Facebook, or whatever other means you have at your disposal. Remember, be polite. Don't make me take off my belt.

Out Now: 'Swap Heroes 2', 'World Zombination', 'Imps in Tokyo', 'Grudgeball: Enter the Chaosphere', 'Happy Pet Story', 'Jolly Jam' and More Posted: 18 Feb 2015 08:15 PM PST Lots of new iOS games have just hit the US App Store, and it's one of those weeks where there's eclectic mix of game types. I was a fan of the original Swap Heroes, so it's neat to see a sequel out, and World Zombination has my attention just for the sheer scope of zombie carnage onscreen all at once. Alto's Adventure is another highly-anticipated game launching tonight, but it's marching to the beat of its own drummer and will release in a few hours. Finally, don't forget about the big Space Miner update, which is basically like getting an awesome new game. Let us know what you'll be playing in the comments below! AERENA - Masters Edition iTunes Description Assemble your team of Champions and face-off against your opponents in the game that redefines turn-based tactical combat. AERENA - Masters Edition provides the ultimate experience for the Aerena Players. No Ads! No tedious grind and no limits! Fast paced but deep gameplay in a unique AEtherpunk setting! Get this premium version of the highly acclaimed game and rise up the ranks to become an Aethermaster! . Forum Thread: AERENA - Masters Edition (by Cliffhanger Games) All White iTunes Description All white, guys. Touch the grey box to make it white. But watch out, when you touch a grey box, the color (black or white) of any colored boxes which near the grey box will turn around! You make the grey boxes all white, you are all right! Over 100 puzzles, more are coming, challenge yourself and your friends. Forum Thread: All White! (By chun yin Tsang) BalloonTurer iTunes Description BalloonTurer is a delightful puzzle based game with super immersive challenges that will keep you playing for hours, it's like food for the brain, but wait! there's a twist... Those pesky spikey balloons will do their best to stop you, they are like ants on sugar, you'll have to overcome them with skill, wit and if that fails try brute force, a hit here a canon ball there and they go 'pop'. Evident or not, every little decision you make could mean success or failure in the level (or the next, or the next after that). Be sure to use all resources to your advantage, plan well, strategise (even while you sleep) and then conquer. Enjoy! Forum Thread: BalloonTurer (By obioma okehie) Barrel Buster iTunes Description Bust the barrels before they bop you on the brain case! You are Busta the breakdancing badass hell-bent on bustin' barrels. Karate is your style of choice. Straight up, no frills. Kick, punch and destroy an onslaught of falling barrels before they mess up your day and your Jordans. Forum Thread: Barrel Buster (By DreamWalk) Bird Assassin iTunes Description Birds murdered your Pa! His final wishes are for vengeance. Take your Pa's rifle and kill as many birds as you can to avenge his death. Battle a variety of enemies and bosses on your quest to kill the bird that murdered your Pa. Visit GunMart between levels to upgrade your guns. Purchase an Auto shotgun to kill multiple birds with one shot, or use the MiniGun to concentrate fire on a single bird. Forum Thread: Bird Assassin (by Social Loner Studio) Bob's Space Adventure iTunes Description In this free mobile game you take control of Bob, a janitor from a local space station near earth. One day he accidentally gets sucked into a black hole that transfers him to parts of the universe that are still undiscovered by mankind! Survive, before the enemies outnumber you! Luckily for you, your space suit is equipped with a fuel tank that has a lot of special abilities! Upgrade, power-up and explore the infinite universe and join our championship in 2015! Forum Thread: Bob's Space Adventure (by Red Magnet Store) Bounce iTunes Description Bounce is officially here. Battle friends for the high score in this never-ending game of grabbing power-ups, taking down enemies and climbing to the top. Simply touch the left or right side of the screen to move your character and break the green lines to increase your score. May the person who breaks the most lines win. Forum Thread: Bounce (by Ketchapp) Dreamslide Plus iTunes Description Dreamslide Plus is a unique game that mixes line drawing and physics. Draw lines to help Little John slide to the end of the level. Collect stars and items for speed and bonus points. The game is meant to be challenging, so don't give up easily! Forum Thread: Dreamslide Plus (By Guilherme Alves) Extreme Unicorn Bacon Space Fighter X 3000 Unlimited iTunes Description Touch the screen to shoot! Shoot aliens with Bacon! In this 2D Shooter Game the player takes the role of a unicorn flying through space, while firing bacon strips at attacking aliens. Compare the score with your friends and become the best Unicorn Bacon Space Fighter in the world. Forum Thread: Extreme Unicorn Bacon Space Fighter X 3000 Unlimited (by Kevin Glaap) Grudgeball: Enter the Chaosphere - Regular Show iTunes Description Jump into the explosive action of the future's most extreme sport. Join Mordecai, Rigby and the rest of the Regular Show gang in Grudgeball: Enter the Chaosphere! In the far future, high intensity Grudgeball is the most popular and dangerous sport in the world. Choose your team and go 3-on-3 against your opponents in a battle for supremacy. Shoot, block, counter-attack and unleash super moves in your quest to be the best. Tackle level after level in your journey to unravel the mysteries of the Chaosphere and rescue Pops. Discover arena mods like speed walls, rebound barriers, multicannons, dimensional portals and more that totally switch up the way you play. Forum Thread: Grudgeball: Enter the Chaosphere - Regular Show (by Turner Broadcasting System) Happy Pet Story iTunes Description Have a great time in Happy Pet Story! Play dress up with your virtual pet, decorate your house, and play exciting mini games! Immerse yourself into a town full of good humor and happy animal pals, and create a unique dream home out of your imaginations! This game is available offline. Raise your very own virtual pet in your pocket! Take care of your adorable baby or play mini games together! With hundreds of items to collect and tons of cute outfits and fashion accessories, you'll be spoilt for choice! Stroll along the street lined with cute and colorful shops or simply chill in the cafe! Invite your friends to your town and show off your impressive home-decorating skills. You can also visit other townies to see if they are as cool and creative as you are. Build friendships and interact with your neighbors through hilarious dialogues, and help them out with daily requests in exchange for exciting rewards. Forum Thread: Happy Pet Story: Virtual Pet Game (By Happy Labs Pte Ltd) Imps in Tokyo iTunes Description Lead the mischievous Dreamcatchers on their mission in Tokyo in this beautiful handcrafted indie arcade/adventure game. Help them to save Dreams, use their unique powers to fight Mr. Cornelious, stop his diabolic plan (of course) and save... KITTENS! You also save kittens! Ahhh, we should've started with this! Fly through skies of Tokyo with a pack of Imps and explore diverse gameplay scenarios, complete various tasks, meet powerful allies and punch terrifying enemies in order to save them. Sounds confusing huh? Don't worry, it'll all get clear. You just have to follow an amusing comic driven story, full of magic, humour and nostalgia. Imps In Tokyo contains an intense story mode delivering a full and carefully crafted experience, packed with unique game mechanics. There is also a SECRET ARCADE MINI-GAME starring your favourite kittens! Wait… so it's like a game within a game?! YES! All this topped with beautiful illustrations and music. Begin your adventure now! Forum Thread: Imps in Tokyo (by We Are Vigilantes) iO - A Physics Platformer iTunes Description A physics platformer about size, speed and momentum unlike anything you've ever seen before! Grow, shrink, roll, leap and climb in this unique puzzler featuring over 150 challenging mazes one-of-a-kind gameplay that includes portals, inverted gravity, vehicles and more! Share your times with friends on the global leaderboards and become a time/space legend! Forum Thread: iO - A Physics Platformer (by BluBox) Jolly Jam iTunes Description A fresh puzzle game that will surely make you jolly! Prince Jam needs YOU to help save Princess Honey and the Jelly Kingdom. Download and play today for free! Defeat the evil Boss and his wicked, cute minions through hundreds of levels of fruit-filled goodness. Do you have what it takes to save Princess Honey and become the ultimate Jam Master in this jolly adventure? Forum Thread: Jolly Jam (by Rovio Stars) Mecha Showdown iTunes Description Transform into a giant mech of destruction and battle deadly extraterrestrial kaiju monsters to save our planet! Play this FREE turn-based fighting game in which you take control of elite war robots to defend the Earth from alien invaders. Under attack by alien monsters! All the world's nations are united in the Planetary Council to defend the world against enormous alien aggressors. Countries including the USA, UK, South Korea, Russia, Germany, China, Japan, France, and Brazil join forces as they deploy the last hope of planet Earth: high-powered giant machines of destruction converted into the ultimate defenders. Will the alliance of nations and the might of their mechs prevail against the extraterrestrial threat? Play solo or against friends! Forum Thread: Mecha Showdown (by TurnOut Ventures) Monkey King Escape iTunes Description Watch out, here comes the Monkey King! Play as the legendary Monkey King and evade capture from the almighty Jade Emperor of Heavenly Kingdom! Angered by the Jade Emperor's refusal to grant him an honorable place among the gods, the Monkey King gobbled down the precious Peaches of Immortality he was assigned to protect. Only YOU can help him navigate the treacherous Heavenly Garden with the Emperor's armies hot on his furry heels! Forum Thread: Monkey King Escape (by Ubisoft) Moto Joe iTunes Description Tap, jump, dodge and perform stunts in this extreme casual game that is sure to get your daily dose of cray cray. Get Moto Joe Completely Free today! Forum Thread: Moto Joe (by Harsh Rajat) Pancake - The Game iTunes Description Flip the pancake as many times as you can! One-button-action at its finest. Throw the pancake! Catch the pancake! Throw the pancake! Catch the pancake! No seriously, that's basically all you can do. Forum Thread: Pancake – The Game (By Philipp Stollenmayer) Quopples iTunes Description Quopples is a social, hyper-fast, turn-based matching game, where you need wit and speed to blast your way to victory. Challenge your friends for a fun game of Quopples and get tapping to switch tiles around the board. • Create combinations of 4 to blast them clear of the board • Create chain reactions and supercharged explosions to send your score sky-high • Work quickly because the qlock is ticking! • Add tiles, Add time, Bomb, Shuffle and Free Move tools • Clear the board completely to earn a huge bonus Then it's over to your friend to try to better your score. It's simple enough to play with anyone and quick enough to play in your lunch break! Not mastered it yet? Play a Single Player round to hone your skills… Forum Thread: Quopples (by Monkeybin) Swap Heroes 2 iTunes Description Swap Heroes 2 is a casual turn-based strategy adventure. Form a group of valiant heroes and guide them in battle through a wide variety of quests and locations as you venture toward a final showdown with the feared Shadow Knight! Features: - Easy to learn turn-based gameplay. - Form a party from 8 unique heroes. - Guide your party through 10 new locations. - Battle against over 30 types of challenging enemies. - Earn star points with victories that can be used to equip powerful upgrades. - Unlock a variety of levels, modes, and heroes as you complete quests. - Compete for high scores in the all new endless mode! - Game Center leaderboard and achievements included. Forum Thread: Swap Heroes 2 (by Christopher Savory) Switch & Drop iTunes Description Switch, drop and match colors to clear the blocks in this new kind of puzzle game. Matching falling rows to clear as many colored blocks as you can. Simple swipe controls allow you to change the order of blocks before they fall into place and create Special Blocks by matching four or more blocks of the same color. Switch & Drop is easy to pick-up but hard to master as you go for the high score against increasingly challenging odds in a variety of exciting game modes in over 100 levels. Forum Thread: Switch & Drop (by Chillingo) Timelines: Assault On America iTunes Description Timelines: Assault on America is a fictional WWII Real Time Strategy (RTS) game that asks the question; "What if Germany invaded the United States?" Timelines is a fictional WWII Real Time Strategy (RTS) Strategy game that takes place on American soil. Designed for tablet play with brilliant high quality graphics. Forum Thread: Timelines: Assault On America (by Strategy First) World Zombination iTunes Description Take control of a massive zombie horde and destroy the world. Or help the last surviving humans make their stand and defend it. The choice is yours in this epic massively multiplayer online game! As the zombies, attack cities around the world, spawn hundreds of zombie drones, and mutate them into powerful special zombies in a real-time strategy game. If you choose the humans, strategically place your units around the cities, defend the citizens and buildings, and mow down incoming zombies in a new take on tower defense. Both sides acquire new units, train and level them to make them more powerful, and play with (and against!) friends and thousands of other players for control of the world! Forum Thread: World Zombination - (by Proletariat Inc.)

'Checkpoint Champion' Ice Lake Update Available Now Posted: 18 Feb 2015 04:56 PM PST Last month, Protostar Games promised an update for their debut title Checkpoint Champion [Free], a game which I gave a five-star review to back at launch. Today, the game has gotten this promised update, adding a bunch of new content to the game. There's the new ice level, which is the third in the game, bringing with it a total of 24 new challenges in that arena. As well, once you pick up 90 stars in the game, you can play the level in the arena mode. Along with the new level comes a new car: the Brittania Micro. This car is slow with a slower turning speed than other vehicles, but it comes with the fastest turbo boost of the 4 cars. The cars statistics have been changed to better show off the differences between each car. High-resolution devices should have better graphics quality, and download size has been reduced in an act of witchery. Burn Protostar at the stake!

Noodlecake's Publishing Challenging Tilt Game 'Tiltagon' Next Month Posted: 18 Feb 2015 02:00 PM PST I previewed Tiltagon, a game from Super Line Rush [Free] developers Jyri and Piia Kilpeläinen a few months ago. While the game was initially planned to release in January, a bunch of additional work has gone into it, and the developer has teamed up with Noodlecake Games to release the game sometime next March. Yes, we realize this announcement is ironic given just yesterday we were questioning the role of publishers on mobile. Tiltagon has seen a lot of work be put into the game since it was first revealed. Check out the new trailer for the game, as it shows off the spiffier visual look compared to the original screenshot. It's really come leaps and bounds from the original, as the colors and visual effects add a lot of flourish and life to the game that weren't quite there before. The controls have come a long way since what I've played in earlier builds, too. Expect this promising tilting challenge sometime next month after everyone's recovered from GDC.