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. I’m not going to lie: it was a little difficult finding a full list that really caught my fancy this time. Perhaps because of the August holidays, perhaps because of the extreme weather, or simply by chance, it seems like it was a less busy week than usual. I still put together a nice list for you, though. Of course, you can keep an eye out for updates yourself 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 go for it!
Bacon – The Game, Free Bacon: it’s breakfast. It’s lunch. It’s dinner. It’s a snack. It’s a game. Bacon – The Game has a new update with a new icon, and with that new icon are eleven more things to toss bacon onto. What more could one ask for? Perhaps bacon. Real bacon on a plate in front of you. But that’s not something that we can fairly request from an indie game developer, I think. Maybe some of those AAA publishers can sidle up to the curb with a truck full of bacon for everyone in the neighborhood? Think of the children.
Marvel Contest of Champions, Free Spider-Man: he’s not breakfast. He’s not lunch. He’s not dinner. Some might say he is a snack, but that’s not really my beat. But he is in some games, that much is certain. Such as this one! Anyway, there’s some new event stuff going on in this latest version of the game, something involving Photon, the Kree, and a lot of other things that make me think this was originally meant to tie in with the delayed movie The Marvels. Luckily it isn’t heavily tied in, so you don’t have to worry about any spoilers. How many characters are playable in this one now? Pretty cool.
MARVEL SNAP, Free Marvel Snap also updated this last week, and you may have seen my stories about the various things going on. First up, the new season Big in Japan has kicked off, featuring Daken, X-23, and other friends of ol’ Wolvie. The update itself did the usual trick of rebalancing cards, with Spider-Man in particular getting a full re-do. Lots going on, as usual for this game.
Disney Magic Kingdoms, Free Disney owns a lot of stuff these days, and one of those things is Indiana Jones. While some may say the franchise belongs in a museum, we’ll have to settle for it being in the Magic Kingdoms. Enjoy new characters Indy, Sallah, Henry Jones Sr, Belloq, and Marion, plus new Concessions Indiana Jones’ Hat Stand and Indiana Jones’ Whip Stand. Naturally, you’ve got a couple of new Attractions as well. Indiana Jones Adventure and the Lecture Hall can be added to your park. Finally, there’s a new Indiana Jones Parade Float. Get it while it’s hot.
Cooking Mama: Cuisine!, This isn’t going to mean a whole lot to most readers, but right now in Japan we’re kind of in the middle of the Obon holidays, which is one of the major events on the calendar. More of a stay at home with the family thing than anything, but there are also summer festivals going on sometimes. Cooking Mama is leaning into that, with a new Summer Festival event that sees you trying to make a variety of recipes using ice. It’s only available during this event, so make the most of it. As part of the festival, you’ll also get a free goodie each day you log in while the event is running.
Solitaire Stories, Solitaire Stories is really bringing it this time, with a new story and three new events to enjoy in the latest version of the game. The new story is Rentwood Renegades, a tale of some rogues in a fantasy world trying to pull off the score of a lifetime! Over in the events section, we’ve got Dragons of the Deck, Lucky Luminaries, and Wild Card Woods all offering fresh ways to play and earn some cool stuff. That’s a lot of ways to play some cards by yourself. Do indulge.
Merge Mansion, Free Sitting in as our obligatory free-to-play matching puzzle game update of the week, Merge Mansion is celebrating a special occasion. That mysterious Grandma is having her birthday soon, but she’s keeping the exact date a secret. Classic Grandma. So what are the presents? A new Mystery Pass to solve, the third installment of Heikki’s Sauna, a new competition called The Great Bush Bonanza, and more. Okay, those aren’t so much presents as they are new things added in this update, but let me pretend. I forgot it was her birthday and all the shops are closed.
Devolver Tumble Time, Free Time to head back into the Tumbler for another good Time. Devolver. I couldn’t smoothly fit that word in there. Nuts. There are some new characters in the game thanks to this update, and I’ll tell you right now that one of them has earned this the coveted UMMSotW award for this week. You’ve got Gassy from Painty Mob, the Crow from Death’s Door, Scratch from… from Devolver Tumble Time, and Poinpy! From Poinpy! People, I love Poinpy. Go play some Poinpy. You’ll have to subscribe to Netflix to play it, but it’s worth it. Oh, and maybe play this game too if you want.
Star Traders: Frontiers, $6.99 The Trese Brothers went like, two whole months without updating this game. I thought they might be dead. But no, they’ve been back on the near-weekly updates since the end of July, so all’s well that ends well. This one features the usual assortment of balance tweaks, with the previous couple of updates being a bit more noteworthy. Still, I wanted to call attention to the fact that everybody, yeah, rock your body, yeah, everybody, rock your body right, TRESES ARE BACK, ALRIGHT!
Hungry Shark World, Free It’s kind of weird how on the one hand this game sometimes promotes shark conservation and proper education about the true nature of these lovely creatures, but also loves the whole chompy chompy horror-ish elements. Of course it would not let Meg 2: The Trench go by without an event, and here we are. There’s a new Splash Pass, new events, and of course some new sharks. Hey, whatever floats your boat, then breaks your boat, then eats some of your people, and then you say that you’re going to need a bigger boat, and… sorry, getting carried away here.
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!
