Back in 2017 developer Race Cat Games released Match Land, a very unique semi-turn-based spin on the match-3 RPG formula. The game became quite a fan-favorite around our community and elsewhere, and the next year a licensed spin-off called Cartoon Network Match Land was released that featured the same general gameplay but with a huge cast of characters from popular Cartoon Network shows, but sadly it appears this version is no longer on the App Store. Anyway, since that time Race Cat Games has been working away on a brand new game that is just about ready for launch. It’s called Tap Force and it’s a hero-collecting idle game with a heavy ’90s beat ’em up arcade game aesthetic. Check out the trailer.

Your goal is to collect and upgrade new fighters which you’ll then send into battle to help clean up the mean streets, and in between that battling you’ll be opening up new weapon shops so the good citizens of the city can also arm and defend themselves. That’s… a pretty bleak existence now that I think about it, but such was life in ’90s beat ’em up games. Tap Force has loads of references and in-jokes to popular games and characters from that magical decade, and while the actual combat is handled automatically there’s a decent amount of depth when it comes to the various upgrade paths and different classes of your heroes.

Tap Force is the kind of game that’s not TOO involved, but also gives you just enough stuff to do to make it a fun distraction in tiny chunks throughout the day. If you want to check it out early you can find links to the beta build in our forums, otherwise look for the official global launch of Tap Force on iOS and Android August 24th.