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. It’s the last round-up before Christmas, and I’m not sure how much we’ll have to look at next week because of the usual freeze and general holiday stuff. We’ll make the most of what we’ve got, but that’s a concern for next week. This time we’ve got lots to look at, and look at it we shall. 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 go for it!
Homescapes, Free Let’s get the obligatory free-to-play puzzle game update out of the way first this week. This latest version sees the Wonders of the World event arrive, where Jerry and William compete to decorate their gardens with objects from around the world. Collect them all and you’ll get the Adventurer’s Airship. There’s also a Lake House event, some holiday bonuses, a new story chapter that sees Austin hitting the gym, and a new puzzle element in the form of the Cooking Pot. It will fill the field with steam if you don’t keep making matches next to it.
Jetpack Joyride, Free It’s happy ho-ho time in Jetpack Joyride once again, with a big holiday event offering some cool new goodies for Barry to get his grubby mitts on. Collect flying baubles to get seven special gifts. As for new premium items, there’s Reindeer Barry, The Abominable Snowmech, and the Christmas Bell Jetpack. Enjoy the winter delights as you weave your way through laser beams and missiles, just like Santa Claus does every year when he delivers presents to the three or four people not on the Naughty List in government buildings around the world.
Sonic Forces PvP Racing Battle, Free Christmas is just a few days away, and this latest update for Sonic Forces dresses things up appropriately. In addition to making things look all winter-like and festive-ish, there’s a new Christmas-themed character up for grabs: Jingle Belle Amy. There’s also a new event kicking off in a couple of days that pits Belles (Jingle Belle Amy) vs Elves (Elf Classic Sonic), presumably with some nice rewards up for grabs. You’re probably too late to get Amy at this point, but perhaps the event will give further opportunities in that regard.
Downwell, $2.99 Downwell updated, and because I love Downwell, I had to include it here. But what did it update? It says “added controller support", but controller support was already here. Apparently it’s something to do with landscape mode, but I do know one thing this update does that its developer didn’t mean for it to do: it breaks the game. If you beat the last boss the game will crash. The developer made a little goof and a fix will be out soon, but if you haven’t updated yet and plan on beating the last boss in the immediate future, maybe don’t hit that update button until the fix arrives.
Jurassic Worldâ„¢: The Game, Free I know when I think of Christmas, one of the first things I think of is dinosaurs. I know, I know: you too. Something about the season, I guess. The latest update to Jurassic World: The Movie: The Game has nothing to do with Christmas, however. I mean, beyond the dinosaur connection anyway. Who can forget when the Three Wise Velociraptors brought myrrh and frankincense to baby Jesus? Aww. Okay, sorry. Focusing. The game now has playable bosses! You can use them in battles and limited time events. This update also sets up some new creatures that will be featured soon, and makes some bug fixes and other tweaks. Here’s hoping for some good cheer from SanT-Rex Claws for all of us!
Mini Motorways, I have been told by multiple concerned parties that I unfortunately “robbed" Mini Metro of its rightful award a couple weeks ago, so I’m looking to make it up this week. Mini Motorways also has an outstanding update to close out the year with. There are two new maps to play, Manila and Rio de Janeiro, giving you some new situations to play around with. There are also new Daily and Weekly Challenges to ensure that there’s always something to play. Traffic lights have gotten some improvements, and the overall balance of the game has been adjusted. There are also some UI improvements and new User Profiles that allow more than one person to play their own games without bumping into each other’s progress. This seems like a fine candidate for this week’s coveted UMMSotW award. Yes.
MARVEL Realm of Champions, Free Hey, it’s new Marvel. Well, it’s new at least if you’re in the United States, anyway. And it kicks off its new wider availability with a big update. There’s a new story event about some extradimensional chicanery, a new login calendar full of rewards, some new synergy sets, an alliance system, and more. A new champion enters the game: Super Soldier of Patriot Garrison. With the new champion comes new weapons, the Vibranium Shield and the Arc Shield. Sorcerer Supreme has a new Scarlet Witch gear set, and most champions are also receiving new retro-inspired gear pieces. Aside from that, it’s a big list of bug fixes, balance tweaks, and performance improvements. Enjoy the new-ish game! Let’s hope for more Spider-Mans in the future!
Disney Magic Kingdoms, Free Remember Brave? I barely do, but clearly someone does because it’s the focus of the latest update for Disney Magic Kingdoms. Merida, Queen Elinor, King Fergus, Lord Macintosh, Lord MacGuffin, and Lord Dingwall are all on their way to the Magic Kingdom in an all-new event. You can add to your Comfy Princess collection with the new Comfy Merida costume as well. Not the worst way to close out the year, even if it is a bit unexpected.
Injustice 2, Free For obvious reasons, this has been a fairly quiet year for superhero movies. Movies in general, really. It’s going to be a while before things get back to the way they were, assuming they ever do. But there is a big new superhero movie hitting this month: Wonder Woman 1984. Her shining Golden Armor from the movie is making an appearance in Injustice 2, with Golden Armor Wonder Woman ready to fight. She looks quite strong, too. There’s a new Solo Raid Event called The Rise of Krypton for those of Account Level 20 or higher, and some improvements to Legendary Brainiac. Other new additions include the Wonder Woman Divine Holiday Calendar, packed with lots of deals and rewards, and Reforge Tokens, which allow you to potentially get gear with better effects.
Mortal Kombat, Free Been a bit since Mortal Kombat updated, but the developers are making up for it with a big new version this time around. Diamond MK11 Shang Tsung joins the game, complete with his signature morphing ability. The new Kold War Tower offers up a Diamond Kold War character for those who can topple it, along with an Epic Tower Equipment card. Collect all the new Kold War Tower Equipment cards to bust out some new Brutalities. There’s also a new battleground in the form of the Retrocade arena from Mortal Kombat 11 Aftermath. It switches between the MK2 Living Forest and the MK3 Temple as you battle. Lots of cool stuff to dig into, so give it a go and see what’s up.
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. Provided there’s anything to talk about, anyway. Have a great week and a Merry Christmas!
