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. There are some really, really good games in this batch. But don’t worry, if you’re here to read me go off the rails as my sanity slowly crumbles over the course of writing the article, we’ve got that, too. Naturally, 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!
King Rabbit - Classic, Free King Rabbit is a terrific little puzzle game in the classic arcade tradition. With its latest update, there are now more levels on offer. The Emerald Collection expansion has been added to the game as an IAP, giving you a bunch of new challenges for the low cost of $1.99. Whether you buy that IAP or not, you can now do some social media sharing from the pause screen. Finally, if you are a person who likes surprises to potentially be pleasant or unpleasant, you will be happy to hear that locked crates can now contain enemies. More blood for the blood rabbit, I say.
Reigns, $2.99 Sometimes I like to leave the winner of the coveted Update Mondays Most Spider-Mans of the Week award until near the end of the list for dramatic purposes. But if I did that every time, you would always know where to expect it, and that’s no good. So when Reigns updates with a new character, some new deaths, some new objectives, a fake elephant, and a bunch of other new cards, I think I’m okay with bumping it up to the head of the list. Imagine you were reading the article, and after you got to the King Rabbit entry, you swiped left, and BOOM. UMMSMotW award winner. Pretty shocking, no? This is your current reality.
AB Classic, Free From an update to a game about being a king to a King-like update to a game, we’ve got it all this week. Angry Birds has 15 new levels to play in its latest episode, Piggy Farm. I continue to be creeped out every time I think about pig farms. Whatever, get some new medals, find a Golden Egg, be happy that you’re playing something marginally less random and capricious than Candy Crush. That’s what freedom tastes like, friends.
Phoenix 2, Free Mm, this is also a pretty good update. If I had some kind of silver award or the like, I could probably give it to this game this week. But I don’t. Prizes don’t mean as much when they are handed out excessively, in my opinion. So instead you will simply have to appreciate that Phoenix 2 has five new ships to collect, more useful leaderboards, and some balance changes. Is that enough? It has to be. It’s all I have to give. (SPIDER-MAN REFERENCE, BAM)
DEEMO, $1.99 But then I get to thinking that, like, these awards I hand out aren’t tangible objects. Certainly no resources go into them, and it’s kind of arbitrary to give one out per week, like temporality has anything to do with anything. If there are lots of good updates in a week, should we give out more? If there are no good updates in a week, should we force an award? Big problems for award-awarders, to be sure. This update to Deemo is quite a good one as well. It brings the story to a close, adding some new songs and making a few fixes along the way. The Forgotten Hourglass DLC is on sale for half its usual price right now, too. I guess I’m saying that it’s a good time to get into Deemo if you haven’t already.
Junk Jack, $4.99 I was just thinking last week that it had been a while since the usual 2D crafting games had made an appearance. And here is Junk Jack! It’s possible I willed this into existence, but more likely it’s the culmination of a lot of hard work from the development team. You can ascribe causality where you like, I suppose. Wow, what a list of changes here. I’m not going to list them all, but make sure to check out the new Uber Mobs. I want to make a joke about the driving service here, but I live in a country where it is yet to take hold so I can’t really say much about it! Instead, I will call your attention to all the new weapons, pets, and other goodies that you can find in this completely free update.
Subway Surfers, Free Yes, I’m well aware that if I spent less time writing dumb jokes and weird references and waxing philosophical, I could probably fit in more complete summaries of the updates themselves. This is true. But it’s not really that fun just listing things, is it? They’re kind of the most boring, rote articles a website can put up, if you ask me. Ooh, here’s the top 15 games that feature a spatula. The top 7 ways you can use your iPhone charger as a conversation starter. Blah. If they don’t feature peanut butter, I just check right out, friends. Oh right, Subway Surfers. They are going to Monaco and there is a racing theme this time. There’s also a little Easter in there because, hey, it’s getting to that time.
Cookie Jam: Match 3 Games, Free Okay, I’m probably being too hard on lists. I mean, I think they can be done well. They certainly appeal to our desire to organize and categorize things, and the punchy format can sometimes lead to sharply-written prose. But I think those good ones have to come from a place of wanting to write about that topic, rather than the desire to list anything at all or appeal to the SEO gremlins? Something to consider as you play through the 20 new levels that have been added to Cookie Jam, I think.
Temple Run 2, Free I’ve been informed by the Shadowy Consortium that we’re treating the last few paragraphs as though they are non-canon, so adjust your TouchArcade Timelines appropriately. Temple Run 2 has a mega-cool new update you can check out if you want to keep on running around in those temples but need some new stuff to look at while doing it. It’s called Lost Jungle, and it gives you some new surroundings and obstacles to contend with as you collect coins and other loot. Isn’t it weird how there are so many #2s on the App Store but relatively few #3s? It’s like, it takes one sequel to realize that you’re better off perpetually updating one app. But only one! Not counting spin-offs, I suppose.
Golf Zero, Free This is a fun, weird game. I rather like it. If you also rather like it, you probably already know about this update that adds the Sunset Hills to the game. Sunset Hills jams in 40 new levels for you to play through, which certainly can’t hurt things. There are new challenges, new enemies, and even some wild new obstacles. Just about all you could ask for in an update like this, really. And yet, no free pancakes for Shaun. What’s up with that, devs? Hm?
The Simpsonsâ„¢: Tapped Out, Free Last time I made a cheap joke about The Simpsons and I needed some fresh aloe for the burns I received as a result. So no jokes this time. The Simpsons: Tapped Out has a new event running. It is spy-themed. That means Hank Scorpio is involved, and I really don’t need to say any more than that, do I? Wait, I forgot about the text formatting. I need to say just a little more. Just…a…little…more… and there. We should be good. Hank Scorpio!
Templar Battleforce Elite, $9.99 As usual for a Trese Brothers update, there are a lot of points we could talk about here. I’m going to focus on death. The perma kind, if you know what I’m saying. It’s on my mind because I’ve been replaying the early Fire Emblem games for a little side project. There’s a lot of controversy about its inclusion in strategy games, but I do know at least one thing: some people just love it to bits. Even people who don’t necessarily want their games to be super-hard. That might sound odd, but hey, it’s the reason that Fire Emblem now has permadeath as an option separate from the difficulty level. And now, so does Templar Battleforce! Yes, you can now flip permadeath on even if you’re playing on easy difficulty. How about that? Yet another reason to play this fine game.
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!
Editor’s Note: I’m fiddling around with the headlines of these to see what results in some more of that sweet, sweet SEO chedda’, so please no one take the “best" headline too seriously. Just experimenting! –Eli
