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. Hoo boy, have we got a lot of Halloween updates this week. It’s not all pumpkins and candy, though, as some really great games saw some non-Halloween updates as well. 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!
Bullet Hell Monday, Free Mondays might be rough, but when your Mondays include some Bullet Hell Monday, that’s a little slice of heaven right there. The latest update to this awesome shoot-em-up adjusts the Chapter Mode and adds a new IAP that allows you to fully upgrade all of your ships and unlock all of the challenges, giving you an experience a little closer to .Decluster Zero. You’ll also receive better bonuses from picking up the extra ship IAPs.
Dan The Man, Free Here’s the first of many Halloween updates in this week’s edition. The Halloween event in Dan the Man adds a new daily challenge, some new horrific costumes, and a new Halloween theme for the menus and UI. This is a really great game, so make sure to check it out if you haven’t already. Side note: kinda jealous of people whose names rhyme with ‘the Man’ as opposed to ‘the Leprechaun’.
Ace Attorney Trilogy HD, Free When something smells, it’s usually the Butz. But if something stinks, it’s that really great games are sometimes broken by iOS updates. Luckily, Capcom isn’t going to keep us in suspense here the way they did with Ghost Trick. The classic Phoenix Wright Trilogy is now fully updated to work with iOS 10, and may it never break again. Hold it! What about Dual Destinies, Capcom? Let’s hope that’s the next case they’re taking on.
Angry Birds Seasons, Free An Angry Birds Seasons update that actually has something to do with seasons in any way, shape, or form? I’m feeling positively nostalgic over here! There’s a new Halloween episode to play through called Hammier Things that adds 24 new regular levels, plus 3 bonus levels. They also gave out a special anniversary gift of free Power Birds for the weekend, but if you’re just reading this now, I’m afraid you missed it. Curse this weekly schedule!
MARVEL Spider-Man Unlimited, Free Well, now that Gameloft has pulled the trigger on Venom and the Symbiote Suit, they might as well go for broke. Spider-Man fans tend to either love him or hate him, but whatever you think of him, Carnage isn’t going away anytime soon. He’s the latest boss to join the ranks of this game, and as with a few of the other bosses, he’s also part of the playable roster. Along with Carnage, we’ve also got a pair of Eddies in Anti-Venom and Toxin, Ben Reilly’s lowest moment Spider-Carnage, and the Mary Jane Iron Spider, which was to the best of my knowledge only created so that MJ would have something to wear in Avengers Academy. Weird times we live in, friends.
Animation Throwdown: CCG, Free Speaking of weird outcomes, who could have guessed that in the year 2016 we would have a video game where Hank Hill in a devil costume squares off in card battles with Peter Griffin and Bender? I guess it’s that old chestnut of dying the hero or living long enough to see yourself become a tired meme people spout out at the slightest provocation. Oh right, the update. Yes, it’s a Halloween event. There will be more events. You have been warned.
Quest of Dungeons, $1.99 This fun little mini-RPG is fresh from its recent debut on the Nintendo 3DS. I guess with that job wrapped up, the developer decided to swing back around and give a treat to the iOS original. The Revenge of the Jelly King is a new IAP expansion that unlocks a new dungeon featuring new graphics and enemies, and a new job class, the NecroDancer. Gosh, that’s a popular profession these days. You also get a new Custom Game Mode that lets you set a few parameters such as the size of the dungeon floors, the number of the dungeon floors, and the difficulty. Now, even if you don’t buy that IAP, you’ll find a bevy of fixes, updates, and changes in this version, but I’ll let you check those out on your own. Naturally, this is the recipient of our coveted Update Mondays Most Spider-Mans of the Week award.
Really Bad Chess, Free Really Bad Chess is a really good game with some self-confidence issues. You can give it a nice reassuring hug by buying the Full Game Unlock IAP for $2.99, which now includes a multiplayer 1-on-1 local versus mode. This update also adds landscape support for iPads, which is good because that’s how most iPad players prefer to play. Finally, we’ve got some UI fixes, adjustments to the tutorial, and good old bug fixes. Really good update.
Masquerade: The Faceless, Free This update brings Stage 7 to the game, packed full of quests, sub-quests, and more. This is also the Halloween update, which means you get a specially-themed lobby and a dozen costumes to collect. The November Package IAP is now available, and the Arena Bonus Reward is finished. I mean, when your game has a title like this, you almost have to celebrate Halloween, don’t you?
Card Wars Kingdom - Adventure Time, Free The original Card Wars used to rock the holiday updates, and its successor is clearly following in its footsteps. You can now awaken your creatures to beef them up, open up new abilities, and give them new appearances. You can also challenge some new Ghostly Dungeon opponents, take on some new events and adventures, and take on the new Cemetery Battle Arena. There are a few other things in here, but you’ll have to check them out yourself. Contrary to all appearances, I don’t actually get paid by the word!
Talisman: Horus Heresy, $1.99 Hey, it’s expansion time! If you’ve got $3.99, you can buy the new Prospero campaign expansion for this game. It includes new Warlords, new Legions, and all the other goodies you would hope for. That means new Strategems, Places, Strangers, Events, and a new incantations deck to mess around with. Yes, this seems both acceptable and not Halloween-related. Well done, developers.
Gangstar Vegas - Mafia action, Free Gangstar Vegas shambles on, though it’s probably nearing the end of its life as the banner-carrier for the Gangstar series. You would think it would be slowing down on the updates, but no, no, no, my friends. This update brings an alien invasion to the city that has you testing your mettle against five battles waves and a showdown with a mother ship. Whoa, now that’s a cool idea. This new version also includes the Cyber Stinger jetpack, which was apparently too much awesome for the game, as in order to keep the balance of the universe intact, mounted guns now overheat more quickly. You win some, you lose some. That’s Vegas, right?
PewDiePie's Tuber Simulator, Free Pewdiepie doesn’t celebrate Halloween, Halloween celebrates Pewdiepie! Probably. I mean, I don’t know, that’s just my guess because he’s such a popular guy. No, I seriously don’t get paid by the word, honest. This update includes 60 new objects, some new haircuts, new desks, some returning events, and a new option to make the Sponsor Eagle vibrate your phone so that you don’t miss it. There are also some bug fixes and other minor tweaks.
Oz: Broken Kingdomâ„¢, Free Given the nature of the IP, I’m not sure whether to be surprised or not that there are so many RPGs and RPG-like games based on it. I just know that this one is probably the best-looking and least-enjoyable. Oh well. If you happen to like it better than I do, you might be happy to hear that there is a new season-appropriate-yet-canonical hero in the latest version, Jack Pumpkinhead. You can unlock a new Rainbow Road gameplay mode once you’ve reached level 10, and I can only assume it involves racing around a track with no walls while jerkstores knock you off the edges using green shells.
Injustice: Gods Among Us, Free Blackest Night is a good fit for Halloween, and you can now add to your roster of Blackest Night characters by completing a special challenge. Blackest Night Hawkgirl can also be bought if you don’t want to bother with all of that, but what else are you doing in the game besides fighting battles? That’s what I thought. Buy your mom some flowers instead, slick. The developer has also revamped the original Blackest Night character, Batman, to make him more effective. That’s long overdue. Some new legendary gear, the Scarecrow’s Mask, rounds out this update, along with a spiffy new icon.
Bridge Constructor, $0.99 This isn’t the first place you’d expect to find a Halloween update, but it’s a pretty cool one. You get five new Halloween-themed levels, all for free, in the Pumpkinidad Island area. There’s the usual stuff like haunted castles, cemeteries, and bats, but you probably won’t find another game with a Coach of the Dead that you need to keep safe. This set of levels is only available for a limited times, so get on it if you want to play them.
Rule with an Iron Fish, $3.99 However, if you’re more about fishing than building bridges, perhaps you’ll be interested in a free update to Rule with an Iron Fish? There’s now a whole new zone to explore after beating the Kraken, and I am absolutely not going to make a terrible pun where I tell you to get crackin’. Aw, dang. Well, hopefully you forget about that awful joke while you’re busy trying to catch the 20 new fish. There are also new items and trophies to collect.
Plants vs. Zombiesâ„¢ 2, Free When your game is pretty much Halloween all year round, what can you do for a special update? Um, not much, really. But hey, they gave it a good go. The Lawn of Doom event runs until November 1st, bringing with it a new premium plant called Witch Hazel, the return of the classic Ghost Pepper and Jack O’ Lantern, and some fun costumed zombies to beat up on. There are also some costumes you can unlock for your plants. Don’t think about it too hard. It’ll only hurt your brain, and zombies don’t like to eat damaged goods.
Minion Rush: Running game, Free Well, yes, it’s not like the Minions are going to miss a chance to horn in on… anything. The Halloween Residential Area is here, Dave has two new Halloween costumes to get, there’s a special Halloween Hustle mission where you collect thematically-appropriate goodies, and there’s even a new mini-game where you have to save the Minions from aliens. Wait, is this the same team as Gangstar Vegas? Do these games take place in the same universe? What does the timeline look like? I have to know!
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!
