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Valve’s strategy battler Dota Underlords springs up on the App Store and Google Play
Valve’s streamlined take on Auto Chess, Dota Underlords, is now available for download over on the App Store and Google Play. It’s being described as a “strategy battler” where you collect and upgrade heroes to take on other players in strategic PvP matches. The general idea is that you optimise your crew to create unique alliances. Stacking your team with allied heroes means stat-buffs, which in turns means an easier win. There’s also a story here that involves a gritty city and a fight for control, though surely nobody’s playing Auto Chess games for their narrative, right? It’s a crossplay and cross-progression title, meaning you can play with…
AndroidDevelopers we’d love to see on Playdate: Part 4
Here we are now on the fourth part of our list of developers we’d love to see make something for Panic’s Playdate. We’ve already included Asymmetric, thatgamecompany, Lucas Pope, SWERY65, Robert Yang, and Platinum Games. Next up, we’ve got a developer with serious storytelling chops and a team that specialises in horror. Giant Sparrow Despite only having put out 2 games, Giant Sparrow has cemented itself as one of the best storytellers in the medium. Both the Unfinished Swan and What Remains of Edith Finch are short, deeply moving titles that use basic gameplay hooks to explore themes of childhood, loss, mental health, and insidious families. Much like the best vig…
Classic puzzler Professor Layton and the Diabolical Book has launched for iOS and Android
Layton: Diabolical Box in HD, the remastered version of DS classic Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box, has just now popped up on the App Store and Google Play. Diabolical Box originally released all the way back in 2007. It was the second entry in the beloved Professor Layton series, following on from Professor Layton and the Mysterious Village. They were acclaimed shots of story-driven puzzling that hailed from Japanese developer and publisher Level-5. They’ve actually held up really quite well thanks to their simple anime-style visuals and accessible logic-based puzzles. They all follow Layton and his pal Luke on their mystery-solving adventures – think a more relaxed Ho…
Harry Potter: Wizards Unite takes the Pokémon Go formula in a wild new direction
Niantic’s highly anticipated Harry Potter: Wizards Unite is set to launch on iOS and Android on June 21st. Niantic is of course the studio behind the impossibly popular Pokémon Go and the hugely influential Ingress. This latest game sees the team bravely bringing its genre-leading augmented reality tech to a very niche series called Harry Potter. The AR market has been flooded with Pokémon Go copycats since its online discourse-dominating launch that, if you can remember back that far, saw everyone and their nan heading out to nab themselves a Squirtle. Despite its barebones state, Go provided one of the silliest, most memorable summers in recent memory. The worldwide…
Developers we’d love to see on Playdate: Part 3
On now to part 3 of our list of developers we’d love to see on Panic’s much-anticipated Playdate console. So far, we’ve had Asymmetric, thatgamecompany, Lucas Pope, and SWERY65 pop up. This time around, I’ve selected two developers that appear to be popular opposites of one another. Robert Yang Yes, Robert Yang – creator of Hurt Me Plenty, The Tearoom, and Cobra Club – was likely the first developer to jump to everyone’s mind when the Playdate was announced, but that’s only because he’s such a perfect fit for the platform. I struggle to think of any creative better at taking a basic, outwardly silly concept and using it to thoughtfully…
Hello Hero All Stars launches on iOS and Android
Known for their previous games Hello Hero and Hello Hero Epic Battle, Fincon’s latest title allows you to grow and manage your eccentric little mobile heroes even when the game is switched off. As a fantasy idle RPG then, Hello Hero All Stars doesn’t need continuous input from the player, instead, it allows you to progress when you’re focusing on other important stuff, like watching the latest drama on Netflix or doing the washing up. Ok, scratch that last one. The basic premise of the game is to defeat enemies, rescue heroes and to advance further along the road. Over time you’ll collect shiny new items and gear to enhance your heroes so they can combat tougher f…
Best mobile games of the year so far: Flappy Fighter
My next pick, the first fighting game on the list, seemingly came out of nowhere. Its intensely silly premise caused a sudden spike in chatter, spurring us all on to give it a go, with many at the time treating it as something of a goofy curiosity. That being said, the real surprise with Andrew Baxter’s Flappy Fighter, a mashup of 2013’s Flappy Bird and Street Fighter, is just how polished and smartly designed it is – so much so that it has the potential to become one of the best games of its type on mobile. Right now, with only 1 playable character and no online PvP, you could argue that it feels more like a demo than a full game. But, in the heat of battle, these conc…
Developers we’d love to see on Playdate: Part 2
This here is the second part of our list of developers we’d love to see on Panic’s upcoming Playdate console. Our first two picks were West of Loathing developer Asymmetric and Flow, Flower, and Journey developer thatgamecompany. These next two are slightly, well, stranger, though still totally suited to the Playdate’s niche appeal. Lucas Pope So far, both the Playdate’s actual line-up and my proposed line-up have been full of developers who specialise mostly in funny, family-friendly games. I figure we need to level that out a bit by throwing in someone like Lucas Pope, the man behind Papers, Please and last year’s Return of the Obra Dinn. His games are enjo…
Best mobile games of the year so far: Tropico
So here’s something slightly different, a strategy game, to mix things up. Honestly, I’ve lost count of what entry we’re on now – 10, maybe? 11? I don’t know. But what I do know is that 2019 has already been so packed with good games that I could easily keep this whole thing going until we’re bringing in the New Year. I won’t, probably, but I could, maybe. Tropico, everyone’s favourite dictator-simulator, launched on iPad last year, but only recently became available for iPhone. Like most strategy games, it’s all about long-term planning and weighing up the dozens of options given to you at any one time. Want to be a fairly progressive d…
Cosy Majora’s Mask-like puzzler 'Minit' comes to iOS on June 27th
Developer JW, Kitty, Jukio, and Dom’s nostalgic hug of Zelda-lite puzzling, Minit, finally has an iOS release date of June 27th. This one first saw the light of day on PS4, Xbox, and PC back in April 2018, so it’s been about a year-long wait for the inevitable mobile port. The idea here is that you have a mere 60 seconds to explore your pixelated surroundings and work out how to break the curse laid on you by a magic sword. After your minute is up, you die – booting you back to the start of your quest. Sadly, for me at least, it’s the type of indie that’s mostly content to cater to those nostalgic for the games of yore – who could have guessed that in thi…
Acclaimed roguelike Dead Cells is headed to iOS on July 17th
Motion Twin’s acclaimed Metroidvania, Dead Cells, finally has an iOS release date of July 17th. Android players needn’t worry too much, as a port will be heading to Google Play in the near future. It’s a challenging roguelike that sees you traversing a sprawling castle, from the deepest dungeons to the ramparts on high. Our sister site, Pocket Gamer, gave the Switch version a whopping 9/10 on release– calling it “a new action platformer classic”. Combat is fast, gloriously bloody, and endlessly varied; it’s honestly one of the best feeling games around. That being said, I’m a tad sceptical about how well it’ll play using touchscreen c…
Developers we’d love to see on Playdate: Part 1
The recent announcement of Panic’s Playdate handheld and its interesting method of game distribution has got me thinking up all sorts of dream collaborations. With the potential for more than one season of games, we could end up seeing dozens of awesome Playdate-exclusive projects from our favourite teams. A few of these developers could well feature in season 1, which would be lovely, but I’d also like to propose a few stranger picks. So here are the first two developers that I think could be a great fit for the weird and (hopefully) wonderful Playdate. Asymmetric Asymmetric’s western epic West of Loathing is one of my favourite games in recent memory. It’s bursti…
Best mobiles games of the year so far: The Gardens Between
I reckon, by now, I’ve probably offered up a varied enough selection of GOTY candidates to justify throwing in another premium, story-based title. I’ve got a racer, a runner, a couple of roguelikes, another runner, two platformers, and some that don’t fit quite as tidily into any of the above. The Gardens Between The Gardens Between tells the story of two kids who escape the mundanity of their suburban setting to head out on an adventure through their own memories. It sounds almost too painfully twee on paper, but part of the appeal here is that very precarious balancing act. The player takes on the role of a nameless, omnipresent being floating above and guiding the two…
Brawlhalla introduces Adventure Time’s Finn, Jake, and Princess Bubblegum
During Ubsoft’s E3 conference, we found out that Adventure Time’s Finn the Human, Jake the Dog, and Princess Bubblegum will be the latest playable fighters in Blue Mammoth Games’ Brawlhalla. This comes about thanks to a big crossover event with the hugely popular Cartoon Network series. The brief trailer gives us a quick glimpse of each fighter’s moves and combat styles. They join an already impressive roster of recognisable characters from several earlier crossovers, including Hellboy and Rayman. As part of the update, we’ll also be getting a new team-based mode called Buddy and a new arena called Tree Fort. The free-to-play brawler obviously draws a whole…
Devolver’s CARRION is a nightmare of tendrils and gore
During Devolver Digital’s annual fever dream of an E3 conference, we were lucky enough to get another quick look at the delightfully fleshy CARRION. The appropriately named Phobia Game Studio are the minds behind this reverse horror game of sorts in which you assume the role of a shapeshifting nightmare of tendrils and gore. It looks like the gameplay will feature a lot of sneaking about, stalking your human prey, punctuated by short, sharp bouts of action. The sheer nastiness of the horrors on show reminds me a fair bit of Inside’s sad, desperate science experiment gone wrong. Though Phobia’s creature’s slow hunting and considered bursts of violence appear altoge…
