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. The Lunar New Year was yesterday, and we are now in the year of the rabbit once again. The last one really sucked, so let’s hope this one is better. Oh right, the article. There are a lot of Lunar New Year-related updates this week, unsurprisingly. We’ve got a mix of some of those and a few other wholly unrelated ones to give you a savory blend to enjoy today. Of course, you can keep an eye out for updates yourself 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!
Jetpack Joyride, Free It feels like just a couple weeks ago that Jetpack Joyride had some kind of Fruit Ninja event going on, but whatever. It’s Lunar New Year time, so let’s party! Collect Red Envelopes to unlock some cool goodies like the Qing Emperor Court Dress, the Prosperity Rabbit Jetpack, and the Yin Yang Chariot. Tacky yet kind of cool, which is more or less Jetpack Joyride‘s brand, isn’t it? Barry looks very fancy in that new outfit, at least.
Bacon – The Game, Free Since Bacon – The Game transcends all terrestrial concerns like holidays or indoor plumbing, it’s not surprising that its latest update has nothing to do with the Lunar New Year. So what does it have? Only the exact thing that all fans of Bacon – The Game could ever ask for. No big deal. That’s right, this new update features more things to put bacon on. Tremendous! What a deal. I’ll take ten.
Jetpack Joyride 2, Where there is Jetpack Joyride, there is sometimes Jetpack Joyride 2. That’s not a hard and fast rule. I really just made it up. But this time there is Jetpack Joyride 2, and isn’t that the important thing? This update features some new story levels to play, finishing off Neontropolis and pitting you against Red Photon. There’s also a new Gumdrop Dispenser Jetpack, a new Typhoon power-up, and a new avatar. Also in this update: bug fixes and performance improvements! We love those!
Genshin Impact, Free Genshin Impact, the game so nice it was up for Game of the Year awards thrice. There’s a new update in play, and I’m sure most of you already know about it thanks to Mikhail’s fine articles. But I have to include it here in order to save my home planet, so here it is. The Exquisite Night Chimes update brings new characters Alhaitham and Yaoyao, a new main event and login event, new area Desert of Hadramaveth, some new outfits, a new boss, and the new weapon Light of Foliar Incision. Fancy names, fancy update. Those are the rules. All joking aside, it’s more stuff to do in a game that is already overflowing with things to do. Go, enjoy.
Zookeeper World, I’m going to cheat and call this our obligatory free-to-play matching puzzle update for this week. I know it isn’t free. But it sure feels like it, doesn’t it? This latest version adds twelve new puzzle stages to play, plus a new Zoo rank 26 that allows you to further expand the area of your zoo. More space to put your junk in? Now that’s what I call a major update! There are also some bug fixes in here, because there always are.
Simon's Cat - Story Time, Just in case that last one wasn’t enough to satisfy your matching puzzle urges, here is one more. It’s another Apple Arcade game, though. Sorry. Hopefully most of you are subscribers. There’s a new story here where you have to help Ana renovate the vet clinic, which doesn’t sound like a place a cat would want to be. The update notes also helpfully remind us that there are twenty-five new levels to play every week. Not bad. You’ll also find various improvements in this latest version of the game, plus the usual bug squashery.
Subway Surfers Tag, Alright, one last Apple Arcade game update before we move along. The main Subway Surfers game is having its Lunar New Year event, but I missed that last week and it’s too far back now. So instead let’s look at this game’s update, which adds a mysterious new surfer named Frank. You can log in daily for some coins to help you snag him. Frank has a wild power shot called Anti-Gravity, and if you manage to defeat Dog you’ll earn a snazzy new outfit. I missed a chance to do some wordplay with Frank’s name, I now realize. Alas, my delete key is forever broken. Let’s move along to the next thing.
F1 Mobile Racing, Free Let’s hop over to a racing game we haven’t yet featured in these articles. Electronic Arts has a Formula One racing game, something I just learned today. Look, I’m not big into simulation racers. Anyway, it has a fresh new update with some cool improvements. There are some new in-race animations for suspension, which adds nicely to the realism. The rear view camera performance has also seen some beefing up. There’s a new end of race sequence, and some serious adjustments to the UI. Four new region-themed Hot Lap events have been added, and there’s also a new 2022 Favorites event where you can relive the best of the best from last year. Not a bad update, all things considered. I’ll have to keep an eye on this one from time to time.
Star Trek Fleet Command, Free It’s actually pretty impressive how much atmosphere Star Trek: The Next Generation was able to create with its limited budget and the special effects technology of its era. Watching some of the earlier episodes now, it’s not hard to see the seams. But at the time, it was surprisingly effective at selling some of its cooler concepts. For example, the Borg. And that’s how it connects with this latest update, friends. I did it! I did the segue! There are some new Borg Solo Armadas in this update, along with some new Officers and more. Why someone would mess with the Borg is beyond me. Don’t poke the bear, fools.
Cytus II, $1.99 Oh hey, an update for Cytus II. We’re at version 5.0 now, but what does that mean? Some new story updates, for starters. Pick up the remaining fragments and listen to the farewells. There are some new free songs that go along with the new story updates, plus two free DEEMO II crossover songs and five classic Cytus songs via CAPSO! rewards. The tutorial has gotten some improvements, there’s a new AI feature to mess with, and the UI has gotten some tweaking. All in all, a fine update, and one more than worthy of the coveted UMMSotW award for this week.
Hmm. I think I may have oversold the Lunar New Year updates, friends. Nevertheless, 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!