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. Hallowe’en is behind us, it’s not quite Thanksgiving yet, and Christmas is a good distance away. In other words, it’s a dry week for event-based updates. But don’t worry! I still managed to find some interesting updates for us all to chuckle over together. 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!
Choice of Games, Free I know what you’re thinking: there aren’t nearly enough choice-based narrative games about robber-baron train tycoons seeking out romance. Well, I’m not going to say one game solves everything, but the latest adventure to hit Choice of Games, titled Gilded Rails, aims to fill that particular niche. You inherit your father’s railway business, but keeping it requires you to find a partner before time runs out. It’s a mad dash for love, but you also need to keep the trains running on time while you’re wooing. As usual, you can buy this game within the Choice of Games app via IAP.
King Rabbit - Classic, Free Let’s move from stories of engagement to an update that seems to be trying to improve engagement. With King Rabbit‘s latest update, you can now opt to receive notifications telling you when a user-created level is trending. You’ll never miss the best from the community! There’s a new button in the level builder that lets you watch ads for items, and a bunch of tweaks and adjustments have been made to the UI. Also: bug fixes! Please choose your favorite rabbit pun to complete this paragraph. I need to move on to the next one.
Stardew Valley, $4.99 Another week, another set of fixes to Stardew Valley in response to player requests and feedback. Nothing too exciting on the list this time around, but hey, it’s still pretty early. What we’ve got is some fixes to fishing to make it a little more intuitive to control, proper iPhone XR support, and a few smashed bugs. I have a feeling the developer won’t be leaving this one be until most people are satisfied with it, so we’ll probably be seeing more of Stardew Valley in the future around these parts. That suits me just fine.
TRANSFORMERS: Forged to Fight, Free I grew up with the original generation of Transformers, so I suppose that’s the bunch that is most nostalgic to me. But I also have a lot of nostalgia for Beast Wars (or Beasties, as it was known in Canada for reasons I am not going to go into here because WOW), which started airing during my last year of high school. I’m always happy to see a Maximal or Predacon get acknowledged in this crazy sea of G1 nostalgia and Bayformer popularity. The latest update to Forged to Fight adds one of the core Predacons to the mix. Scorponok was always interesting because he was pretty much the only bad guy who wasn’t scheming to overthrow Megatron. And now you can get him in this game! Neat.
Phantomgate: The Last Valkyrie, Free Phantomgate seems to be fairly well-liked among those who like this kind of thing (whoa easy on the praise there, Shaun-o), so let’s have a look at its latest update. There’s a new, high-difficulty dungeon aimed at expert players called the Dimension Rift with new Phantoms and rewards to earn. Some balance adjustments have been made, particularly in the first adventure maps. The PVP matching feature has also gotten a little tender loving care, and the UI has some tweaks, as UIs are wont to. Were some other bugs fixed? Yes, I suspect so. Well, anyway, that’s a thing. On to the next one!
Pocket Build, $0.99 Ah yes, Pocket Build, the game about building pockets. No, wait. It’s about building, in your pocket. But you do the building out of your pocket, unless you are some kind of weird person who can see your phone’s screen while it’s in your pocket and… you know what, this is getting complicated. The new update allows you to explore the worlds of other players, and you can change the snap settings, which should theoretically allow you to place things more precisely. This update also includes bug fixes and improvements. Since I’m feeling bad about the whole intro there, I’ll give this game the coveted UMMSotW award for this week.
Subway Surfers, Free Well, here’s a new one for the kids from Subway Surfers. At least, I think it’s a new one. The Subway Surfers are going to Marrakesh this time, with deserts, spas, and markets lining the way. Try to get your hands on the Magic Carpet board, and check out Salma’s new Talisman outfit. This update also adds a new stats bar so that you can keep track of your high score and resources, a nice little addition if do say so myself. And I must, because I’m the only one talking here. Right?
Lords Mobile: Kingdom Wars, Free Currently one of the more popular games in the “dude yelling with his mouth open in the icon" genre, Lords Mobile got a few new things in its latest version. The Kingdom Gazette is a new chat channel that will keep you abreast of news and other happenings in the game. Royal and Feudal Points are a new resource you can earn that can be traded for special items. Just kill some Tier 4 troops in Battle Royal or Feudal War and you’ll be swimming in Points in no time. A new research tree, Wonder Battles, has been added, and with it comes new turf quests. Throw in some new Hero animations and a few other things, and you’ve got an update, alright.
Candy Crush Saga, Free Yes, Candy Crush Saga is here again. Look, we have to keep the lights on somehow, don’t we? I wish I could tell you anything exciting here, but it’s really just another batch of levels in a never-ending game that will likely still be getting new levels after you, me, and this website are all dust in the wind. My only solace comes from the fact that we managed to stop the evil machinations of Dave the Puppy. But at what cost? AT WHAT COST?
Rules of Survival, Free Poor ol’ NetEase has had some kind of a weekend, hasn’t it? Still, it can’t be denied that when it comes to free-to-play games, the publisher seems to know what it’s doing. Its games make money, and the players seem generally happy. Such is the case with Rules of Survival, which got a new update that adds several features and fixes to the game. An auto-sprint function has been put in, and it does exactly what it says. The season four end date got punted to November 28th, and a month-long training points event will be running alongside it. There are some optimizations, some bug fixes, and a bunch of UI adjustments, too. Sure, nothing earth-shaking, but stuff like this holds the building together, you 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!
