Hello everyone, and welcome to the week! It’s time once again for our look back at the noteworthy updates of the last seven days. I’ll say it: this week was kind of… so-so. But I was still able to sniff out some cool updates to check out. Of course, you can keep an eye out for updates yourself using AppShopper Social (Free), the watchlist in the TouchArcade App (Free), or by participating in the TouchArcade forums, but this weekly summary is here to fill in the things you might have missed. Let’s dig in!
Dan The Man, Free While it’s not a major holiday to the extent that some are, plenty of people will be enjoying St. Patrick’s Day festivities of some sort this week. That apparently includes Dan the Man, whose game gets a new costume, a new survival stage, and some appropriate new music to mark the occasion. This update also allows you to check out mini-movies of your highlights and includes a number of tweaks for checkpoints, tutorials, and power-ups.
Minecraft, $6.99 It’s remarkable how far along Minecraft Pocket Edition has come since it first launched. We’re at a point now where many of the updates are just adding one or two things since the biggest work has been done already. So, as usual, this update has a new skin pack you can buy for a few bucks. It’s the Strangers Skin Pack, which I regrettably initially mistook as the Perfect Strangers Skin Pack. Was my face red when it didn’t include Balki or Cousin Larry! This update also adds villager trading, which gives you a reason to put up with having those weirdos around.
Solitairica, $3.99 There are only a few little tweaks to mention here, but any excuse to drag Solitairica into an article is a good one for me. This latest version of the game has a new catalog screen that shows your progress in the game, with lists of spells, items, and enemy traits to fill out. The battle info overlay has also gotten a redo to make it more helpful overall, especially for starting players. Round that out with a few bug fixes and that’s the update.
Sentinels of the Multiverse, $0.99 Sentinels of the Multiverse has a new challenge mode that throws all kinds of new villain behaviors into the mix. You can combine it with the advanced mode to get the maximum Sentinels challenge. This update also includes a new hero team called Termi-Nation. New variants for Absolute Zero, Bunker, and Unity have been added for your hero pleasure. Naturally, there are some bug fixes in here as well. It’s kind of a light week and I don’t think I show my appreciation for this game often, so let’s go ahead and give it the coveted Update Mondays Most Spider-Mans of the Week award.
Pixel Starshipsâ„¢, Free Pixel Starships gets its first big update of the year with some major changes to its UI and features. The game now supports 3D Touch, some new goodies have been added in the forms of a Service Vent, a Blaster Weapon, and some new Armor, Warehouse, and Defense Upgrades. There are also some new Crew Members and some new Accessory items for your crew. Some new modes also make the scene. Try out Revenge Mode or Membership Mode and see what the heck they do.
Need for Speed No Limits, Free I know this one isn’t super-popular around these parts, but I thought this update was pretty cool. EA has tapped Hot Wheels designer Jun Imai to join in on a special event where you can get your hands on some Hot Wheels originals like the Gazella GT and Time Attaxi. It’s not all Hot Wheels, though. You can also earn the classic JDM tuner car and the 1997 Nissan 180sx Type X. This update also adds the ability to customize your cars with exclusive wraps.
SimCity BuildIt, Free It’s a couple of weeks late for the Academy Awards, but SimCity is going Hollywood anyway. For a limited time, you can get a Movie Studio Statue, an Outdoor Cinema, and the Walk of Plumbob Park. You can also score a Movie Theater, an Awards Auditorium, and a Drive-In Theater for that classic feel. But maybe you want to go behind the camera? You’ll want to add some themed film sets to your city by competing in Season 3 of the Contest of Mayors. Simply participating is enough to get you the Movie Studio Gate.
Space Marshals 2, $4.99 Wow, and I thought some of the other updates were short and sweet this week. Okay, so Space Marshals 2 has an update and it contains four new bonus missions and a bunch of new rewards. What kind of rewards? I can’t say. But they are surely rewarding, and will make you feel warmer and fuzzier as you go about your day. Is this enough text to not break the formatting of the article? I sure hope so!
Ascension: Deckbuilding Game, Free Hunh, Playdek is still alive. You’d never know it by looking at their Kickstarter page but I DIGRESS. There’s a new expansion available for Ascension called War of Shadows that adds a bunch of new cards including dual-cost heroes and constructs. There’s also a day/night mechanic that alters the potency of your cards based on the time of day. You can play it as a stand-alone or combine it with other Ascension games.
Mortal Kombat, Free A usual update for Mortal Kombat X, which means some new characters to collect via the game’s different modes. Cyber Sub-Zero Triborg and Tournament Quan Chi are available through dedicated challenges, and both bring some interesting abilities to your teams. But the really powerful new entry into the roster is the diamond-tier Wretch D’Vorah. She damages the entire enemy team over time and increases her own team’s critical damage. You can score her from Elite Packs if you’re extra-lucky. You probably won’t be, though!
That about wraps it up for last week’s significant updates. I’m sure I’ve missed some, though, so please feel free to comment below and let everyone know if you think something should be mentioned. As usual, major updates will likely get their own news stories throughout this week, and I’ll be back next Monday to summarize and fill in the blanks. Have a great week!
