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. Some very surprising updates this week, along with lots of the usual suspects. As a bonus, you can watch my sanity unravel as I work my way through the list, thanks to a lack of sleep this weekend. 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!
Oceanhorn â„¢, $6.99 If you’ve taken the plunge on the iPad Pro, you’re probably looking for some fancypants stuff to show off its beefy power. The developers of Oceanhorn heard your cries, and have updated the game with some special graphical upgrades just for you. Er, you and every other person who has an iPad Pro. It’s not some weird stalker thing, I promise. Anyway, better graphics for the Pro, iCloud cross-saves for those of you with Apple TVs, an improved sound engine for everyone to enjoy, and some bugfixes because it’s Update Mondays.
Angry Birds Seasons, Free Not every game has to swing a holiday update, but if you’ve got the word ‘seasons’ in your title, your hands are pretty much tied. The Angry Birds are back with another advent calendar of 25 new stages to play. The new levels follow a skiing theme, and come complete with new festive clothing for birds and pigs alike.
Slashy Hero, Free I feel like Slashy Hero already had a reasonable amount of stages to enjoy, but I certainly won’t turn up my nose at more. The latest version has 24 new levels with a new boss fight, significantly adding to the game’s length. And of course, those new stages come with new costumes to collect and wear. Oh, friends, I just thought of a costume they have to add to this game. What if you could dress up like Slash, the musician? That would be great! I’ll start a petition on Change.org right away.
You Must Build A Boat, $2.99 It’s no secret that I love this game a lot. If I had to poke at it in any sort of way, it’s that it’s not quite as replayable as other puzzle games once you’ve done everything. This update addresses that, adding a new daily challenge mode, some new skins to unlock, and adding a greater effect to increasing your Ace levels. The game also supports more languages and adds Game Center achievements so that kid in the forums can stop bugging the developer. All of that, my friends, is enough to earn a shiny, coveted Update Mondays Most Spider-Mans Of The Week award! Enjoy your metaphorical celebratory vermouth responsibly!
Jetpack Joyride, Free Friends, remember Flappy Bird? Haha, 2014 was so bizarre! Well, anyway, I always felt Jetpack Joyride owed Flappy a little pinch on the cheek. The Profit Bird power-up was probably inspired by Angry Birds, but the way Flappy Bird works is awfully close to it. Probably a coincidence, as neither game originated that kind of gameplay, but still, good enough for a little gentle ribbing, I think. And so, here comes Zappy Bird, the latest event in Jetpack Joyride. It basically plays like Flappy Bird done in the Jetpack Joyride engine and if nothing else, it has one truly kickin’ theme song. Other events have seen some improvements as well, and the cool Christmas-themed items are back in the shop once again.
Cards and Castles, Free Cards And Castles gets some visual upgrades with this update, along with new default decks for each faction, UI improvements, and a new series of basic quests and upgrades that come after the tutorial. Presumably, the latter is to help new players ease into the swing of things a little. I have to say, I’m impressed with how frequently this game gets updates. It’s not here every week, but I feel like it’s hung around longer than just about anything else that isn’t a King game.
Swordigo, Free Yes, that’s right, friends. In the year 2015, the awesome action-adventure game Swordigo has received an update. It’s a nice one, too, with support for MFi controllers, iOS 9, and iPhone 6 family screen sizes. While the developer was at it, they also fixed some long-standing issues with the game’s iCloud syncing. If you haven’t played Swordigo before, please play Swordigo. If you have played Swordigo before, hey, here’s an excuse to play it again! Nobody loses when they ride the Swordigo Train! Choo-choo!
Weekend Warriors MMA, Free The latest game from the Wrestling Revolution developer is out, and to no one’s surprise, there’s already a nice update for it. This new version adds more coaching tips in between rounds, some punches you can do from a closed guard, powerbombs, a toggle for cage-climbing, and better explanations for matches with special rules. I’m sure we’ll be seeing plenty of this game in future Update Mondays articles.
Bowling Central - Online multiplayer, Puzzles, Tournaments, Apple TV support, Free game!, Free Bowling Central recently got updated with a multiplayer mode, and the developers are wasting no time building on it. The latest update adds real-time 8-player tournaments, four new rooms for online play, and swaps out the daily bonus for an hourly bonus. Fun fact: a bowling game was one of the main drivers of one of the highest-selling video games of all time! Not this bowling game, mind you, but it’s bowling. There’s only so much you can do to differentiate that.
Marvel Contest of Champions, Free Is it already the one-year anniversary of Contest Of Champions? I guess so! To celebrate, the game is holding a special event where you team up with Rocket Raccoon and revisit the history of the Contest. That sounds like the premise of the world’s best remake of It’s A Wonderful Life, if you ask me. To go with that, there’s a new Guardians-themed battle arena, a few UI improvements, and a new Catalyst Shards system for collecting Catalysts. Sadly, this update comes up a bit short in terms of Spider-Mans, the only true objective measure of quality in our universe.
Pyramid Solitaire Saga, Free I swear, this stolen sarcophagus is quickly becoming the Third Summers Brother of the Kingverse. Anyway, Helena and Kingsley are on the move again, this time ending up in Iceland. They find a magical cave and somehow surmise that someone has used the power of the sarcophagus to teleport to Paris. Why? I have no idea! This whole thing is a complete madhouse, and I have no idea where its spiral into the depths of absurdity will end. Also, 15 new levels to play. Hey, have fun, special friends!
Hearthstone, Free Now, I’m no doctor of Hearthstonology, but my layman’s read of this update is that it’s a relatively minor one. A few new card backs, some tweaks to a couple of cards, some festive trimmings, and a few bug fixes make up the bulk of it. That’s probably fine given we’re just coming off of a fairly big update. Unless you were banking your strategy on Savage Roar or something, in which case I suppose you are not terribly happy.
DomiNations, Free I suppose it was just a matter of time, but here’s a World War update for DomiNations. Take your alliance against other alliances for control of a map, make a command post to hold your spoils of war, create a war base, and join in on massive 50 versus 50 battles. If you knew it would all end this way, Honored Traveler, tell me, would you have done anything differently with your life?
Flick Tennis Online - Play like Nadal, Federer, Djokovic in top multiplayer tournaments!, Free Well, we’ve already covered bowling, so we might as well go for the two-fer on sports you fall asleep watching on TV on lazy Sundays with this update to Flick Tennis Online. The latest version includes seven new coaches, each with their own playing style, and eight new courts from around the world, among other minor improvements. I’m kind of hoping one of those eight courts is Night Court, but I suspect those dreams will go unfulfilled a while longer. Oooh-kay!
Mortal Kombat, Free It’s time for more characters to join the Kombat! I want you to think of all the characters from Mortal Kombat you’ve wanted to see, and try to imagine which ones have been selected. Okay, hold on to that image while I tell you that the latest additions to the roster are Dark Raiden, Dark Empress Kitana, and Revenant Kung Lao. Alright, that’s what you were hoping for, right? The game will be giving out gifts this month to celebrate the season, and there are new booster packs that give you a chance of scoring Klassic Scorpion or Klassic Sub-Zero, too. Why do we substitute ‘k’ for the for the first ‘hard c’ in ‘classic’ but not the last one? So many mysteries. Maybe the answers lay at the end of the game. Probably not, though.
Zen Pinball, Free Another old Zen table missing from the iOS version has been added in. El Dorado is now available to download, and it’s a pretty decent table, if a little plain compared to some of Zen’s newer fare. It should hold you over until their next huge licensed table arrives, at least.
Soccer Spirits, Free Space soccer anime social RPG, alright! The newest update adds a Colosseum of Trials, which presumably involves some sort of difficult task or tasks to complete. Either that, or the name is a lie. Hard to say, given how unpredictable this game can be. Other changes include enhanced visual effects, an improved UI, a few new convenience features, and some bug fixes.
Crusaders Quest, Free The update notes for this one read like a pretty awesome grocery shopping list. Apparently, this is an Episode 6 update that includes 36 new types of Normal Heroes, a new Master Hero, a new Soulbound Weapon, an update for the 9th floor of the Fortress Of Souls, and ever so many optimizations and bug fixes. Dig it, if you dare. I don’t know, I was just looking for something to cool to say. Crusade it… in your face! No?
Temple Run 2, Free It feels weird calling this an update, because really what Imangi has done here is stapled a whole new Temple Run game onto the existing Temple Run 2. It’s called Frozen Shadows, and it has the familiar gang running through a more wintery climate than they’re used to. That means slippery ice, sensible winter fashions, and a new snowy variety of demon monkey to contend with. Seeing this makes me wish Imangi would hook up with Canada’s favorite chain restaurant for a special Canadian edition called Timmy’s Run. You wouldn’t even need demon monkeys. You could have a Winnipegger freezing their rear off in -45 degree weather, running to Timmy’s for a double-double. The protagonist of course would not be wearing a proper winter coat or boots because, gee, it’s just a quick Timmy’s run, no need to get all bundled up.
The Executive, $2.99 The Executive didn’t exactly need much added, but I’ll certainly take iCloud, improved graphics for newer hardware, a smaller app size, and better iPad Pro support. Granted, I can’t get much use of out the last one, but I’ll take it anyway because I am a greedy fellow storing special update nuts for the long winter ahead. You scoff, but we’ll see who comes begging to who come February.
Subway Surfers, Free We’re well into December now, so the usual suspects are putting up the proverbial lights and decorations. Subway Surfers isn’t one to miss out on the holiday season, which means the next stop on the world tour is the North Pole. Like Santa doesn’t have enough to keep him busy right now without dealing with some hooligans grinding the rails of his local train lines? Even with this blatantly naughty behavior on display, old Saint Nick might have a present or two for diligent little elves.
har•mo•ny 3, $2.99 I treat Harmony a bit like I do Picross. I can never really have enough puzzles to do, since I constantly come back to it when I have a little downtime. Since the holiday season is full of downtime, I’m glad for this update, which adds 50 new themed levels that include new effects and music. It’s the perfect little slice of brain-teasing peace for an often chaotic month.
Skyline Skaters, Free As if it’s not bad enough that Santa’s got juvenile delinquents messing with his subway system, now he’s got a bunch of goons skateboarding across his rooftops. This is not the way to show appreciation to Santa, friends! There are Christmas costumes to be unlocked, some new Berlin skateboards, and if you keep your eyes open, you might just spot ol’ Santa himself tearing across the night sky.
The Blockheads, Free I’ve heard of playing god before, but this is ridiculous! For a long time, players have asked for a Creative-style mode for The Blockheads, but when the developer semi-retired from game development several months back, it looked like they would just have to make do with the game as it was. Well, wishes can come true if you follow your heart, and now fans of The Blockheads have no mere Creative mode, but actual control over just about every aspect of their worlds. Like, it’s kind of unbelievable how much you can mess around with, albeit with a few restrictions to keep you from breaking things entirely. Pretty cool way to come out of semi-retirement, even if handing over the keys makes it seem likely that the developer is essentially ready to move on from the game for good.
Real Racing 3, Free It’s another update for Real Racing 3, and you know what that means: more cool cars you have almost no chance of getting without shelling out some big bucks. Oh well, it is called Real Racing, after all. This time, it’s the Aston Martin Vulcan, the Lamborghini Huracan LP 610-4, the Koenigsegg Regera, and the McLaren MP4-12C Spyder. Each car is connected to an event that will be running sometime during the next month, so if you’re looking to take them home, you’d best start planning your strategy now.
Warhammer 40,000: Space Wolf, Free I guess this is the week of anniversary updates, because here’s another one. Space Wolf, which I’m told has no relation to Star Fox, has a new legendary weapon, special armor elements that veteran players should find useful, and a handful of bug fixes. Sure, it’s not exactly banners and confetti, but I’m sure players will appreciate this update just the same.
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!
