It’s Memorial Day here in the US, so we’re taking it a bit easier than usual. However, over the last several days there have been a few new releases that have eschewed the popular scheduled Thursday release thing in favor of doing it their own way. In an effort to make sure you don’t miss out on some cool gaming, and seeing as we’ve previewed a few of these games in the past, here’s a short roundup of those new releases in case you’re sitting around looking for a new game to try.
Dungeon Plunder RPG, Free – [Forum Thread] – We really liked Dungeon Plunder ($1.99) when we reviewed it back in March, and it’s been my go-to favorite for some quick roguelike dungeon crawling on the go. I’ll admit, it’s not the prettiest game ever, but the gameplay is as solid as concrete. In an effort to give people a chance to play Dungeon Plunder who may be hesitant to drop the two dollars on the game, a new free version has been released. However, Dungeon Plunder RPG isn’t simply a lite version.
It’s the full game but with a few tweaks to even out its freebie-ness. There are 2 starting classes in the free version as opposed to 3, with additional classes available as IAP in both versions. There are also ads in the free version, but those will go away if you buy one of the IAP class or skin packs. The biggest change in the free version is the ability to buy scrolls and runes as IAP. You can’t purchase those in the original paid game, and it’s sort of like cheating in my opinion, but then again you don’t have to buy them and use them if you don’t want to. The paid version won’t ever contain these consumable IAP items.
Either way you go, paid or free version, Dungeon Plunder is a game that you need to check out, and you can now do just that zero dollars with the new Dungeon Plunder RPG.
ExZeus 2, $1.99 – [Forum Thread] – It was just a few days ago that Japanese developer HyperDevbox revealed that the sequel to their 2009 mech-based arcade shooter ExZeus would be heading to the iOS platform (it had already been out on Android for a while). I guess when they said the sequel was coming “very soon" they weren’t kidding, as ExZeus 2 went live in the App Store early this morning. I’ve really only spent a few minutes with ExZeus 2 so far, but I’m definitely impressed.
The original was one of my favorite games way back when, and the sequel retains all the fast-paced action of that game but adds in all sorts of stuff on top. In addition to flying around as your mech and blasting the crap out of everything in sight, there are new ground combat portions as well as vehicle-based sections and other things that mix up the formula. It’s deliciously over-the-top, and so far the people in our forums seem to be enjoying ExZeus 2 as well, barring some minor control issues. If you like giant robots and explosions, ExZeus 2 is the game to check out.
Greedy Grub, Free – [Forum Thread] – Pixowl keeps themselves plenty busy adding things to and updating their sandbox creation game The Sandbox (Free), but their original claim to fame was a little title known as Doodle Grub (Free) a few years ago which became ridiculously popular. Building off the Grub character and the popularity of the brand, their latest installment starring the cute little guy is called Greedy Grub.
Greedy Grub is sort of a city-building simulation game, and is pretty similar to the plethora of other freemium building games that have come before it. However, one of the neat things that sets Greedy Grub apart is its circular terrain. Basically, instead of being grid-based, the terrain is one big circle, and as you play and level up you can expand the radius of your circular area until it gets rather big. It sounds like a small thing, but it feels much more flowing and organic than a rigid grid-based game. Also, it’s cute, and full of neat mini-games. I’m not really big on freemium building games but have to admit I’m enjoying Greedy Grub more than I thought I would, and for free there’s no reason not to give it a try.
Skiing Fred, Free – [Forum Thread] – The folks at Dedalord have a good thing going with their “Fred" games, though it’s probably not such a good thing for Fred himself. All of these games involve him getting brutalized and maimed in gory fashion in some way, but that’s also part of what makes them so fun. Their latest is called Skiing Fred, and as you might have guessed, involves Fred skiing.
I had a chance to go hands-on with Skiing Fred back at GDC, and thought it was quite a bit of fun. Sure, it’s another endless runner kind of game, but there’s tons of variety here with the various items and environments you’ll be cruising through. It’s a free-to-play game too, so just be aware that there’s all the in-game currency and shop shenanigans we’ve come to expect. Also, some people in our forums seem to be having issues with the controls, though I’d imagine that sort of stuff will be tightened up in post-release updates. For free, it’s worth taking a look at Skiing Fred.
