If you’ve been reading TouchArcade with any sort of regularity over the years, then you obviously know what massive Rocketcat Games fanatics we are. And so it made it all the more exciting when GameClub popped up earlier this year and began doing their thing that it seemed Rocketcat was totally onboard with the whole idea. Which was great because many of Rocketcat’s classic titles had been neglected over the years, as the studio is just too small and too busy with current projects to go back and diddle around with stuff from a decade ago. In fact, GameClub’s first announced title was Rocketcat’s Hook Champ, and since that time we’ve gotten its two follow-ups as well: Super QuickHook and Hook Worlds. But there’s been one big Rocketcat title that I’ve had my fingers crossed would be getting the GameClub treatment, i.e. updated for modern iOS hardware and software, and that title is Mage Gauntlet.
Dialing the clocks way back, Rocketcat originally announced Mage Gauntlet in July of 2011, with the game launching later that fall. It was the first non-hook-swinging game from them, and more or less was a modern take on a classic 16-bit era action RPG. The kind of game that would have blown minds on the Game Boy Advance a decade prior, or blown minds on the SNES two decades prior. It also introduced some of the best touchscreen controls ever seen in an action game by that point, and Mage Gauntlet more or less laid the groundwork for Rocketcat’s eventual Wayward Souls, which is just flat out one of the best games in the world. So yeah, not having Mage Gauntlet up and running properly on today’s devices was a huge loss, but that is where GameClub has stepped in to save the day. To get the full rundown on what makes Mage Gauntlet so great, give our original review a read as well as Shaun’s super in-depth RPG Reload article from a few years back.
As you may be aware by now, you can simply sign up on the GameClub beta page and you’ll instantly get access to Mage Gauntlet as well more than two dozen other lost mobile classics that are part of their Early Access program. GameClub will officially launch later this year as a paid subscription service, but right now you can gain access to these games that are in Early Access completely for free, without any ads or in-app purchases. It’s really ridiculous how many legendary titles are a part of GameClub so far, and they’re not even close to being finished yet. In addition to this week’s Mage Gauntlet, Friday’s bonus release was the excellent slot-machine-based RPG King Cashing 2 and the week before that was the massive fan-favorite Forget Me Not. And prior to that was Super Crate Box, which joins the likes of the Space Miner games, Incoboto, Legendary Wars, the previously mentioned Rocketcat games, and tons more.
So as I keep saying, there’s no reason at all not to sign up for the GameClub beta program and be playing these games completely for free while they’re in Early Access. Whether you intend to sign up for a GameClub subscription when it launches or not, these are fully free, fully playable games you can enjoy right this instant with no strings attached whatsoever. Get on it!
I never got the chance to finish this one. Really great to have it back.
To me Game Club, and this is my opinion, sounds like a walled garden inside of a walled garden. What keeps Mage Gauntlet from being updated to current standards that Game Club can seemingly magically do? Is it emulation? is it a complete rewrite of the original game? I’m genuinely curious. I keep going back and forth on the idea of Game Club and it feels like a slippery slope to me.
I assume that the subscription service provides more reliable income than a $3 game that a few people buy a week. I’ve had friends who stopped developing iOS apps because the sales weren’t even covering the App Store fees.
Game Club has acquired the source code for the games from the original developers and updated it the old fashioned way. Nothing magical here. A lot of iOS game developers aren’t doing this as their main job; a dedicated person or team would have an easier time keeping up with iOS changes and bringing games back into spec than someone who did this as a hobby a decade ago.
I assume RocketCat didn’t do the update themselves because sales we such that it didn’t seem like it’d be worth their time.
The work involved in updating can vary from game to game, but James above gets to the real heart of the matter, and that is that Rocketcat doesn't have the time or resources to update it themselves. This game sold for a few bucks 8 years ago, and that was that. There's no additional revenue coming in over those years to make sense to spend the time and money keeping it updated for whatever new hoops Apple introduces into their ecosystem. Which sucks, but it's just the reality. That's why GameClub is going the subscription route. Constant income means they can keep these games updated and maintained for years.
Thank you both for your replies. Like I said, I’ve been going back and forth on the idea of GameClub. I will probably try it at some point. I have so many games that didn’t make the leap to IOS11 and as a person that buys many premium games, I always held out hope that favorites like Necronomicon Redux, Dungeon Solitaire and Mage Gauntlet would one day get updated. So when I saw it added to GameClub I did feel a little burned and may have overreacted a bit. On the internet? Never.
Dungeon Solitaire! I loved this game when it first came out, I thought I was the only one who played it.
I signed up but Mage Gauntlet seems not available on gameclub list yet
Try this link: https://testflight.apple.co...
thank you Jared
It seems that GameClub forgot to add the link to the list. I couldn't find the game too. I could download/install it from the direct link Jared posted below.
In my opinion, should be the job of Apple to keep the apps updated. You broke it, then fix it!
Why not to port the abandonned games to the Switch like Hamster do?