Hello everyone, and welcome to the week! Also: Happy Halloween! It’s time once again for our look back at the noteworthy updates of the last seven days. I’ll level with you, friends. I skipped over a lot of Halloween updates this week. I tried to include any that looked particularly cool, but I have to go home sometime, you know? 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!
Minecraft, $6.99 This update is a grab bag of interesting stuff. First up, this latest version includes the very first implementation of Add-Ons for the Pocket Edition. For certain fans, that’s going to be a game-changer. Hey, here’s another thing the mobile version didn’t have before: the Wither. Lovely. Rounding things out, we’ve got the addition of slash commands, laser-shooting elder guardians, and some nifty new ocean monuments to explore.
King Rabbit - Classic, Free King Rabbit is such a fun game. I really do love it. So much so that I was happy to buy the Fire Adventures expansion when it released for the low price of $0.99. But if you didn’t get around to buying that yet, here’s some great news: it’s free now! Yes, you can now enjoy some fiendishly tough levels without even having to warm up your plastic. If you paid for the expansion, don’t fret. You’ll get a cool little bonus the next time you open up the game.
Pinball Arcade Plus, $0.99 It’s become something of a traditional for Pinball Arcade to get a spooky classic table each October. Of course, it gets a little harder to find something worthy each year, and that’s how you end up with something like Bone Busters Inc. A Gottlieb table from 1989, Bone Busters was pretty obviously trying to cash in on the buzz around Ghostbusters 2. That’s probably the most interesting thing about this otherwise plain table. Still, for $4.99, it’s not such a bad deal if you’re looking for a thematically-appropriate table to play this Halloween.
Sky Force Reloaded, Free This has been an amazing year for shoot-em-ups on iOS, and Sky Force is a big part of that. This update seems to be the last big content update we can look forward to, but it’s going out on a great note. A new 13th stage, a nightmare difficulty mode for every stage, some new upgrades to pick up, and a new friends system to supplement the Game Center system that Apple kind of crumpled up and threw in the garbage with iOS 10. That should make it a bit easier to enjoy the tournament stages. Don’t have friends who play this game? Why not head to the TouchArcade forums to find some like-minded individuals?
Timberman, Free Timberman looks to be hanging around for at least another year. This update adds full support for iOS 10, the seemingly obligatory sticker pack for iMessage, and three new characters to play with. Trout, Cop, and Astro are all ready to show you their fierce lumberjacking skills. Timber!
Imbroglio, $3.99 Spoiler alert: we’re just about done October and Imbroglio is still in my top ten games for the year 2016. I think we’ll be seeing it on my final list, especially with the addition of this new expansion, Ossuary. Available as a $1.99 IAP, Ossuary adds two new heroes, sixteen new weapon cards, and a new gameplay mode. Apart from that, this update also makes a few balance adjustments, fixes, and minor UI changes. I’m so happy to have more stuff to do in this game that I’m going ahead with giving it the coveted Update Mondays Most Spider-Mans of the Week award. Try to stop me!
Skyline Skaters, Free Okay, I lied. Not all of the Halloween updates I’ve included are all that interesting. Some of them are like this one, a meat-and-potatoes update that just throws in a bunch of cosmetic items and a new title screen/icon. But hey, they didn’t go halfway here. Every skater gets a costume, the setting has been completely done up in Halloween style, and they even threw in a world map even though it has nothing to do with the holiday. All your favorite spooky necessities are here: skulls, pumpkins, and Michael Jackson references.
DOFUS Touch: A WAKFU Prequel, Free A recent favorite of our very own Andy Fretz, Dofus Touch has a weird name but offers up a cool game. It has a bit of fun with the Halloween concept in this update, naming it Al Howin, which sounds like the name of the guy that runs the hardware store in my hometown. Enter the Al Howin dungeon for a limited time and see what scary things reside inside. Will it be deep discounts on three-inch nails? Drill bits without a drill? Or something that has nothing to do with tools? Dare to discover it yourself, friends.
Angry Birds 2, Free Look, we might all have our disagreements from time to time, but I think everyone can agree that the release of Angry Birds 2 was a watershed moment in the history of gaming. Truly, no game deserved our highest score more, and we seriously considered adding a sixth star just to properly reflect its resplendence. But even perfection can be improved upon if you believe in yourself, or at least can be made more appropriate for the Halloween season. Limited time levels, tons of feathers up for grabs, more hats, new chapters, a new card tier, and some bug fixes are pretty much the sum of it all. Where is that picture of a chef kissing his fingers?
Disney Crossy Road, Free Disney Crossy Road just goes ahead and Gary Oaks this whole article by adding a stage and characters from The Nightmare Before Christmas. Smell ya later indeed, Disney Crossy Road. Smell ya later indeed. Anyway, since this is Halloween, it’s a good time to play with new characters like Jack Skellington, Oogie Boogie, Sally, and others. Wait, what’s this? What’s this? There’s a message from Dwayne Johnson, too? What is he Moana-ing about this time, I wonder?
Plague Inc., $0.99 Hoo boy, what a pair of additions to this long-running popular hit. First, in the spirit of the season, a new plague has been added to the game. The Shadow Plague is basically like a Dracula cold, turning anyone who catches it into a bloodthirsty Dracula. Will they also sparkle, or write crowns of sonnets? I don’t know. I’m not good at assessing the hobbies of Draculas. The other addition is a bit more real. Brexit looks to make some big changes in the world picture, so it’s been added to this game. Soft Brexit? Hard Brexit? Brutal Brexit? No Brexit? It’s up to you, friends. If you type ‘Brexit’ enough, it starts to look like a pretzel brand. Brexit. Brexit. BREXIT.
Mucho Party, Free Mucho Party loves Halloween so much, it changed its legal name to Mucho Halloween-Party. Okay, I maybe put that hyphen in there myself. But it’s funny to imagine, right? Yes, you’re right, it’s not that funny. Cut me a break this time? As a peace offering, I’ll let you know that Mucho Party has two new mini-games, a special Halloween-themed UI, and pumpkins, pumpkins everywhere. The perfect treat for family Halloween parties!
Rick and Morty: Pocket Mortys, Free So many Mortys, so very very many Mortys. This update adds eight more Mortys, and if you feel like that’s a touch imbalanced, well, I agree. More importantly, so does the developer, as you can now dress up your Rick in a variety of costumes to reflect his many styles from the show. Oddly, there doesn’t seem to be anything specifically Halloween-like in this update. That’s so Rick, bucking the conventions of normal society. What a guy.
Crossy Road, Free There are two types of people in this world. There are those who have never played Katamari Damacy, and those who are now singing the lyrics to one of the songs from the game. No matter which camp you’re in, you’ll be sure to enjoy the latest update to Crossy Road. You’ve got seven new mascots to collect, including the Katamari Chicken, the Prince of All Cosmos, and some Halloween characters, too. But wait, what about the King of All Cosmos? Hmm, better keep looking, my intrepid friends.
Hitman Sniper, $0.99 Yes, Halloween has even come to Hitman: Sniper. All the high profile targets are wearing special costumes for a limited time, the music is suitably spooky, and there’s even a limited edition crossbow that allows you to make your victim’s ghost your ally, send enemies flying, and shoot a volley of bolts to really wreak havoc. I don’t know what a wacky crossbow has to do with Halloween, but I’m not about to question Agent 47 on his methods of celebration.
Hero Generations, $4.99 It’s always cool when Halloween updates bring some extra fixes to the core games in addition to the pumpkins and bats. So, the latest version of Hero Generations has the Halloween stuff you might expect, but it also addresses a few more things based on player feedback. You can now pass on gold to your children using the new World Bank, the item art has been replaced with high-res artwork, and there’s a new quest to get you acquainted with building special towns. There are a bevy of other small fixes and adjustments, but you’ll have to check those out on your own.
MARVEL Future Fight, Free Professor Weirdo’s movie is coming out really soon, which means he’s starting to do the tour of Marvel’s various apps. This update adds a number of characters inspired by the film, including Doctor Strange, Baron Mordo, Wong, and The Ancient One. The movie looks great, and I can’t wait to watch it in 27,000 years when Japanese theaters finally get it. SIGH.
Titan Quest, $7.99 Dotemu does some pretty ambitious ports to mobile, but one of the downsides to that is that it sometimes feels like the games are held together by popsicle sticks and glue. Titan Quest was a pretty buggy game in its original form, and when you throw in the chaos that is yearly iOS updates, it’s a recipe for disaster. When iOS 10 caused a bunch of issues with this game, I wasn’t too surprised. Thankfully, Dotemu got on top of them and fixed them up in this update, so you can get back to your hack-and-slashing.
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!
