Halfbrick’s not letting anything die off, it seems. Between an overhaul for Fruit Ninja (Free) and numerous Age of Zombies (Free) upgrades, now Monster Dash (Free) is getting a fresh coat of paint for 2014. As pointed out by friend of the site and mega-cool-guy, Mike Schramm, a big update has gone live this morning. Australian studio Six Foot Kid (who made Band Stars (Free)) has taken charge on development of the game. Along with it is a new trailer for the game:

One of the new additions is a leveling system, where Barry Steakfries’ health, jackpot coins, fuel for the Hog motorcycle, and jetpack ammo can be permanently increased. There’s a new diamonds currency that can be used for reviving, coins which can be used for the level ups, and to unlock new weapons. A daily mode provides various specialized challenges like running over a certain number of demons while on the hog There is an energy system now, with no way to buy out of it. It is a bit off-putting at first glance having a paid game add an energy system, but this may be a free-to-play shift – the game is “on sale" but time will tell if that’s a permanent sale or not. It is nice to see a game get updated after two years of dormancy, and the energy could hopefully prove to not be so bad in practice.