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Dear Esther, The Chinese Room’s divisive narrative-driven adventure game, is coming to iOS
Dear Esther, The Chinese Room’s highly divisive narrative-driven adventure game, is heading to iOS later in the year. It’s arguably the game responsible for the popularisation of the ‘walking sim’ genre. After originally launching for PC all the way back in 2012, Dear Esther has gone on to sell over one million units. At launch, it was praised for its very deliberate pacing and refreshing lack of action. For sure, it didn’t win over everyone, but it’s hard to argue against the game’s importance as a foundation for the likes of Gone Home and What Remains of Edith Finch. Your time in Dear Esther is spent exploring an isolated, abandoned Hebridean i…
iPadAgent A: A Puzzle in Disguise gets its fifth and final episode this month
The final episode of acclaimed point-and-click adventure game Agent A: A Puzzle in Disguise has finally received a firm release date. This follows a major delay which saw the final episode being pushed back from its planned launch late last year. The announcement came in the form of a tweet from developer Yak & Co which featured a puzzle for fans to solve. It didn’t take long at all for folk to start spotting the release date of the final episode contained within. Here’s your heads-up before I spoil the release date, just in case you’d like to solve the puzzle yourself. Incoming.... mes..sage... from... head..quarters.... END TRANSMISSION pic.twitter.com/OWz1uYSdiM…
Golf Peaks' latest update adds 12 super challenging courses
Indie developer Afterburn’s puzzle/golf hybrid, Golf Peaks, is getting a whopping new update later this month that adds 12 extra hard courses to tackle. The new levels are totally free, and you can expect to see version 3.0 launch on August 13th. The announcement of more content for Golf Peak, a previous Big Indie Pitch winner, is great news for puzzle fans. If you’ve not tried it out yet, it’s maybe best described as a turn-based puzzler where you’re given a handful of pre-selected moves to make. The “moves” in this case are swings of your putter. It sounds like something that shouldn’t really work, and yet it absolutely does. I suppose it helps…
Diorama Detective is a lighthearted AR title about solving quirky mysteries
Diorama Detective is a lighthearted AR title about recreating crime scenes and gradually working to solve quirky mysteries. It’s the latest game from Studio Cypher, a developer known for its educational games, and it’s heading straight for the App Store on August 8th. Despite the detective genre’s reputation for being fairly grim, Diorama Detective aims to offer a more kid-friendly experience, with accessible AR exploration and a humorous tone. The general idea behind it is that you’ll explore a series of highly-detailed dioramas to search for clues that might lead you to crack the case. Recreating crime scenes can be done by moving characters and objects around t…
Microsoft's Gears POP! opens for pre-registration
Gears POP! is the upcoming spinoff to one of last-gen’s most influential series, Gears of War. It takes the likes of Marcus Fenix, Dom, and Cole Train, and gives them all a cute Funko Pop! makeover, while still retaining some of the punchy, tactical combat that the earlier games are known for. It’s basically a hero collector which sees you upgrading and testing your crew to perfection. The news today is that the game has now entered its pre-registration phase ahead of its planned launch on September 2nd. Gears POP! is focused on intense PVP battles against opponents from all over the world. While the combat is still real-time, it’s decidedly slower and more tactical tha…
Development on Monument Valley 3 is underway
Ustwo Games has, perhaps somewhat unsurprisingly, announced that the third entry in its beloved Monument Valley series is now entering development. With a new game comes a fresh Game Director, and the team are looking for the right fit to bring an interesting creative vision to the perspective-shifting puzzler. The news arrived as part of a job listing on the official Ustwo Games Twitter account. If you feel like you’re a good fit, why not send over a CV? You’ll need this here handy link. ANNOUNCEMENT: We're starting work on Monument Valley 3! But with two exciting games already in development, we're looking for a NEW Game Director to lead the creative vision. Could it be you…
Flocc is a unique game all about controlling an ever-growing flock of birds
Joe Lillington’s Flocc is quite unlike anything else on the App Store. It’s a strange, meditative experience all about controlling an ever-growing flock of birds. Your flock will initially consist only of starlings, though as you progress, you’ll gradually pick up other stragglers. The silhouetted landscapes are striking and distinct in their look despite being randomly generated. Its controls are straightforward, with impressive patterns being possible through simple swipes and taps. Those looking for a bit more of a challenge will be happy to hear that there are 30 logbook achievements to earn as you work your way through the game’s world. There’s also a nea…
Tencent's Ace Force is Overwatch for mobile
Ace Force is Tencent’s none-too-subtle take on Blizzard’s megahit hero shooter, Overwatch. It’ll be launching in China on August 13th for iOS and Android devices, with its western release set to follow. There’s been a fair bit of gameplay shown off previously, but the game’s latest trailer highlights its characters, maps, weaponry, and game modes. First off, the weapons don’t look too reminiscent of Overwatch’s more cartoony arsenal. The guns typically look like guns, albeit colourful and almost nerf-like. Some of what we see in action includes an assault rifle, submachine gun, shurikens, a flamethrower, a rocket launcher, and a nice, punchy shotgun…
Stellar party game Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes comes to mobile this week
One of the best party games around, Steel Crate Games’ Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, is finally coming to iOS and Android on August 1st – that’s this Thursday. It tasks one player with defusing a randomly generated bomb while the other players attempt to talk them through the tricky process of it all. That feeling of everyone frantically explaining fairly complex issues might be familiar to anyone who’s played 2012 hit Spaceteam. You’ll have to relay information and solutions in as concise and fast a manner as possible, as the team attempts to work out input codes or which wire needs to be cut. And the bomb is actually generated at the start of every roun…
Tori is Bandai Namco's mobile-bound answer to Nintendo Labo
Tori, Bandai Namco’s mobile-bound answer to Nintendo Labo, mixes customisable, craftable toys with a selection of quirky mini-games. The first pack, known as the ‘Explorer Pack’, will release on October 2nd, and a new trailer for the pack lays out exactly what you can expect from the Tori experience. Unsurprisingly, it’s all very Labo-like, with small customisable carboard figures to collect and build. In the first pack, there’s a spacecraft and a functioning mini-catapult. One of the things that sets Tori apart is the strange plastic board and ‘wand’ that you can use to manipulate the environment in some of the mini-games. Each of the toys looks e…
Playerless: One Button Adventure is a comedic 'game within a game'
Playerless: One Button Adventure is an upcoming puzzler that sees you entering the world of an old arcade game to fix its many bugs and wrestle back control from its newly self-aware AI. It comes to us from developer Moonlit, and it’s headed to iOS and Android later this year. Playerless is a “game within a game” in the sense that your character is actually playing this old ghost-hunting title that’s been abandoned inside a run-down arcade. You’ll have to try to fix some ridiculous bugs as you go while the world around you collapses in on itself. The arcade cabinet has been left in such a state of disrepair that only one of its buttons still functions, meani…
Stick Fight: The Game delivers chaotic stick man brawling to iOS and Android
Landfall and NetEase Games have brought chaotic stick man brawling to iOS with the mobile port of the duo’s 2017 hit, Stick Fight: The Game. This updated version of the intense multiplayer brawler reworks the controls and serves up the entire Stick Fight experience for on-the-go play. It sees you facing off against your most powerful rivals in explosive 2-to-4-player battles. In the world of Stick Fight, there are no rules. You have a handful of mischievous options open to you at any one time. You could, for example, deafen and confuse your fellow players by blasting heavy weaponry around the arena, throwing everyone off guard. Or you could trick them into throwing themselves…
Hard-as-nails indie hit Hyper Light Drifter arrives on iOS this week
Hyper Light Drifter, the Zelda-inspired indie classic from developer Heart Machine, is set to hit the App Store this Thursday, July 25th. It’s a neon-drenched action RPG that sees you travelling across a crumbling yet elegant world of rock-hard bosses and oddball NPCs. The game originally launched for PC back in 2016 after a hugely successful Kickstarter campaign where $645,158 was pledged to bring it to life. It was an instant hit among critics and fans, earning almost universal praise for its intense combat, stunning visuals, and score from It Follows and Fez composer, Disasterpeace. Its narrative is wordless and open to multiple interpretations, something that a few players foun…
Fantasy RPG First Summoner challenges you to develop the perfect deck
Great news today for fans of strategy RPGs, as SkeinGlobe and LINE GAMES’ First Summoner has now launched for both iOS and Android. It’s a tactical real-time RPG with plenty of scope for unique strategies and inventive deck building. First Summoner was designed specifically for one-handed play in portrait mode, meaning it’s comfortable to play in short or long sessions. The idea is that you’ll manage your hero and chosen deck of 6 cards using the game’s deck-building feature. You decide what goes into your deck, and each AI enemy or online opponent will likely require a unique setup from you. There’s a ton of stuff to see and do here, with the World Ma…
Plants vs Zombies 3 enters pre-alpha phase on Android
Seemingly out of nowhere, EA has announced a pre-alpha for the third entry in its popular tower defence series, Plants vs Zombies 3. The alpha test is open to a very limited number of Android players, and it’s currently unclear whether they’ve already got all the testers they need. The original news of the alpha test came from Android Police. From what I can see, there’s been very little info released about Plants vs Zombies 3 prior to the sudden announcement of an alpha test. I’ve tried to sign up myself, but the game’s Google Play page appears to be temporarily offline. There’s also no word on which regions the alpha test is open to – it’s a…
