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. We’re closing in on Hallowe’en now, so plenty of games are donning their respective costumes, so to speak. But it’s not all spooky and scary, friends. Some of these are just good old content updates, like mom used to make. Of course, you can keep an eye out for updates yourself using AppShopper or by participating in the TouchArcade forums. This weekly summary is just here to fill you in on the things you might have missed. Let’s dig in!
Kingturn Underworld RPG, Free The Kingturn games are some of my favorite go-to TRPG experiences on the App Store. The developer hasn’t released much recently, but he has been great about keeping his existing releases up and running. More than that, the developer has even been adding some new features. You now have the option to allow units to pass through other friendly units when they move, as opposed to the default system where characters can’t move past anyone that is blocking them. It’s a discrete setting and you’ll have to manually switch it if you want to use it. Honestly, it’s not my preference but I’ll never say no to more options.
Mini Metro, $3.99 And here’s another game that I fire up regularly. Mini Metro is a year old now, and to celebrate the developers have hit us with this fancy little update. The most obvious addition is the new Stockholm map. Try your hand at outdoing the real thing if you think you can! This update also adds support for Taptic effects if you’re using a device that supports them. Finally, a couple of helpful quality of life improvements in the form of being able to silence most of the game’s audio to facilitate listening to your own music, and the ability to delete entire train lines at once with a new UI feature. Good stuff!
Battle for Wesnoth, Free The iPad version of Battle for Wesnoth has been resurrected from its 32-bit grave with this latest version. But that’s not all, of course, or else it wouldn’t have a spot on this list. No, the exciting news is that this update pretty much overhauls the whole game to bring it in line with the PC version, and totally rewrites the touch controls while it’s at it. In fact, this new version is now tightly integrated into the PC version, which means it should see far more frequent updates in the future. It’s good to see classics live on. I just wish they’d either hit the iPhone version with a similar update or make this one universal.
Clash Royale, Free Clash Royale got a big update last week. Version 2.0 includes the new Touchdown game mode, new Quests, Gold Rush and Gem Rush events, and more. The Touchdown mode has you facing off against your opponent in a tower-free battle. The Daily and Weekly Quests give you a chance to earn some useful rewards, while the Rush events help you accumulate some resources. Check in every Sunday to pick up a free Epic Card, and enjoy the new feature that allows you to chat with and have a rematch with your 2v2 teammate.
Slayaway Camp, $2.99 A game like Slayaway Camp is right in its element during October, and this update takes advantage of that. A new movie called Hell Camp has been added to the game, bringing with it new levels and a new killer named Holy Skullface. If you’re willing to plunge into the mystery box, you might find some other new killers. Apart from that, this update is mostly bug fixes and optimizations, with newly-added support for Simple Chinese language serving as the cherry on top.
DOFUS Touch: A WAKFU Prequel, Free Nope, this game’s name still makes me laugh. Nevertheless, it’s a very good game and the more content it gets, the better. This update brings two new lairs in the Astrub Rocky Inlet, each packed with new bosses, equipment, quests, and achievements. There’s also a new push notification system that will keep you apprised of what’s going on when you’re not playing. The marketplace now shows the lowest prices by default for each quantity range, too. On top of that, bugs have been fixed, performances have been enhanced, and improvements have been implemented. The usual biz.
Age of Rivals, $3.99 If you like card games and you’ve been sleeping on Age of Rivals, knock that the heck off already, friend. Let’s sweeten the pot by telling you about the latest update for the game that adds a bunch of content. We’re talking 18 new cards, 6 new challenge levels, and a whole new campaign. All that for the price of nothing if you own the base game. Did I mention no IAP? Come on, that’s got to be worth a few bucks, right? Fine, last resort: the coveted UMMSotW award for this week. Yeah, I just did that.
Gangstar New Orleans, Free The latest installment in Gameloft’s brand of GTA-wannabes has taken the baton from its predecessor with this year’s Hallowe’en event. The Gang-O-Ween event brings zombie costumes, bone equipment, and death mobiles to the game to help you feel the spooky season spirit. There’s also a new High Value Target, Captain Crusty. Hunt him down and you can get some nice rewards, but be warned that he is rather fleet of foot. Bug fixes? Yeah, probably a few.
Subway Surfers, Free To tell the truth, when I started doing these weekly updates, I had no strong feelings towards Subway Surfers one way or the other. I just knew it was popular, so I felt I should include it. Over time, I’ve come to see this game as a sort of unofficial mascot of the feature. Anyway, its Hallowe’en update is here, taking the kids to Mexico for a spooky festival. Collect sugar skulls to unlock rewards, and see if you can get the new Mariachi outfit and Casket Board. You’ll have a little help from a skeleton called Manny, which seems to be a popular name among skeletons and the like.
Fallout Shelter, Free I was watching my kid play through some of the new Hallowe’en event in Fallout Shelter, and I swear the game crashed five times in the span of a half hour or so. Pretty ridiculous, but hey, it wouldn’t be a Bethesda Fallout if it wasn’t buggy, right? Anyway, new costumes for your dwellers, a special spooky quest, and some special decorations to customize your rooms with. You can’t ask for much more out of a Hallowe’en event for a game like this. Well, you can. But you won’t get it, so please don’t be greedy. Oh fine, here’s a piece of metaphorical candy. Go to the next entry now.
Vainglory, Free New Vainglory character time! New Vainglory character time! The latest addition to the roster is… Churnwalker? That’s the name? It sounds like an off-brand Sleepwalker whose super power is to hurl chunks on people. Oh well. Uh, so I guess this character can throw hooks and chain people to him. Maybe to ralph on them? Just speculating. This update also has new skins for Baron, Baptiste, and Lyra. Lots of other little gameplay changes and tweaks, so be sure to check the full update notes if you’re into that sort of thing, friends.
Dungeon Rushers, $4.99 Rushing into dungeons, fighting monsters, getting experience, what more could you ask for? Pirates? What? Why… oh, hey. Turns out there are pirates in Dungeon Rushers now. The new Wheel of Fortune may not have Vanna White but it does have some unique items that you can win if you’re lucky. If you’re not, you’ll get a chance to get lost in the new dungeon environment, the Galleon. There are some new pirate-themed costumes for some of the characters, and pirate-themed loot for everyone. It’s not strictly Hallowe’en, but I’m not going to push away the dinner plate when it’s full of scurvy dogs.
World of Tanks Blitzâ„¢, Free World of Tanks has had some odd cross-overs so far, but I think this one might just be the strangest of the lot. So yes, the latest collaboration for this semi-realistic game of tank battling is Warhammer 40K. Yes, the orcs in the space and all that. Hear me out, though: you get to fight on a special map and can get two Space Marine vehicles. The Vindicator tank destroyer is one, and the other is the Predator heavy drummer. You can fly the colors of either the Ultramarines or the Imperial Fists/Dark Angels. Sure, it’s not as natural a fit as, say, Girls und Panzer, but I think it works.
Soda Dungeon, Free Let’s bring this week’s feature in for a safe landing with a look at Soda Dungeon‘s cool Hallowe’en update. The town has a great seasonal makeover, complete with a pumpkin patch. Every boss is wearing their own special costume, and if you whup on them during the event, you can get some spiffy limited-time accessories for your trouble. Look, you were going to sock them anyway. This is just a nice little incentive. You’ve got until early November to collect as many as you can. After that, they go in the vault until probably next year at the absolute earliest. Not the vault! That’s where they keep the last bottles of Pepsi Blue!
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!
