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Panic’s Playdate is the most intriguing console in years
With the utterly crap Ouya now dead and dodgy novelty consoles proving popular, now would appear to be the perfect time for something genuinely weird and different to come along. Enter the Playdate, a very yellow, very odd handheld device from Panic, publisher of games like 2016’s Firewatch and the upcoming Untitled Goose Game. Not only does it look quite unlike any other recent console, with a cute hand-crank and a black-and-white display, but Panic’s method of dolling out its games has got me intrigued, if a tad concerned. Instead of buying individual games upfront, you’ll be getting one new game per week for three months – that’s 12 games in total. And…
playdateBest mobile games of the year so far: Ordia
Ordia, the ninth pick in our rundown of the best games of the year so far, is a single-finger platformer from developer Loju. It’s also the newest game to be featured here, having only just released earlier this month. Ordia As a one-eyed ball of goo, you’ll start out by launching yourself from the bubbling primordial ooze to the endless caverns above. The goal is to continue working your way forever upwards, hopping between handpoint nodes and dodging the odd spike or hungry worm as you go. It’s all controlled with one finger in a way that’s somewhat similar to Angry Birds. It’s a system that feels simplistic at first, but, as you progress, you’ll need…
Best mobile games of the year so far: The VideoKid
In what is now the 8th entry in this extended rundown of the best mobile games of the year so far, I’ve looked to the runner genre and selected a great little 80s throwback called The VideoKid. The VideoKid This one is perhaps best described as a smart play on the NES classic, Paperboy. And while its boxy characters and environments might not be overly reminiscent of the era, the stellar audio work and garish colours positively scream retro fun. It also helps that it’s jam-packed with a silly amount of goofy references, from Back to the Future to ThunderCats. The tricky skateboarding gameplay sees you switching lanes to avoid incoming obstacles, snapping up coins, and occasion…
Best mobile games of the year so far: Scorcher
For the 7th entry in our little rundown of the best games of the year so far, I’ve looked to a classic mobile genre – the auto-runner. There was a time when it felt like just about every new release on the App Store was a runner. While that’s no longer the case, we still see enough of them that it’s fairly tricky for one in particular to stand out from the crowd. And Scorcher, the latest release from Radiangames, manages to do just that. Scorcher This one’s all about the visuals and evolving soundtrack that gracefully ebbs and flows throughout each canyon-like level. There’s a transfixing quality to the wavy, hazy look of everything, and it all comes tog…
Best mobile games of the year so far: Rush Rally 3
Time again for another entry in what is becoming a fairly lengthy showcase of the best mobile games of the year so far. This here is the 6th entry – notable for being the first racing game on the list. It’s another premium title, but I reckon it’s worth every penny. And that game is of course the stellar Rush Rally 3. Rush Rally 3 Brownmonster LTD’s rally series has rightfully taken its place among the heavy-hitters of the genre, with this latest entry in particular earning an especially strong critical reception. It’s a down-and-dirty racer that goes back to basics, perfects them, then cements itself as the ultimate rally game on mobile. Sure, it’s far…
Best mobile games of the year so far: Immortal Rogue
I’ve gone straight back to the world of roguelikes for my fifth pick, Kyle Barrett’s stellar Immortal Rogue. This one sees you playing as a particularly peeved vampire who, rather than dying, goes for an extended hundred-year nap at the end of each run. Immortal Rogue What makes this one special, besides the snappy and satisfying combat, is the way in which you can lightly alter the course of civilisation itself. By opting to focus on converting or killing, say, the societal elites, you can greatly disrupt industrial and technological progress. So, on your next run, enemies that once wielded laser guns might well have been forced to revert back to swords. Times change and chao…
Best mobile games of the year so far: DUNKYPUNG
Platformers don’t come much more devilishly difficult than my fourth pick, DUNKYPUNG, the latest release from genre-hopping developer Nathan Meunier. Of all the games I’ve listed so far, this is the one that best suits being on mobile: Fast, brutal, and incredibly moreish, DUNKYPUNG is a platformer enthusiast’s dream come true. DUNKYPUNG It’s honestly impossible not to get caught up in discussing just how tricky this game can be. You’re a little ball, or a PUNG, controlled by rhythmically tapping the screen to gain air – think Flappy Bird but infinitely more reliable. In fact, the game controls so well, with predictable physics to boot, that you’re…
Best mobile games of the year so far: Knights & Slimes
Following on from two story-driven premium titles, I’ve decided to mix things up a bit by making the third entry in this little rundown a free-to-play roguelike. This one takes the simplest of premises and enemies – the otherwise unthreatening slime – and gradually evolves both to the point where it easily cements itself as one of the best games we’ve seen all year. Kinghts & Slimes Knights & Slimes’ 5 stages each play out across 10 smaller levels, almost all of which can be bested in under a minute. Hitting a slime with your weapon will result in it splitting in two, leaving you with double the enemies to take on. Though each time you do land a succes…
Best mobile games of the year so far: Photographs
This here is part two of my little rundown of the best games of Q1 2019. The Stillness of the Wind was my first pick, and – big surprise – my second pick is yet another premium narrative-focused title. I swear I’ll mix it up for the next one. Photographs Photographs, a narrative-focused puzzler from the ‘You Must Build a Boat’ team, spans five vignettes that outwardly appear wildly different. Among them, there’s the story of a young, budding diver; a mage who aims to use her magic to prevent tragedies; and an alchemist who, together with his daughter, studies and creates cures. You’re given a brief introduction to each one, before their lives slow…
Best mobile games of the year so far: The Stillness of the Wind
Now that Q1 of 2019 is behind us, it’s time to look back at the best of what’s released so far. It’s not all been peachy, with a number of big-name titles disappointing, but I’d wager we’ve already seen several proper GOTY candidates – most of which are premium single-player games. It’s impossibly hard to keep up with every mobile game that comes out, so this little series might spur you on to try out a few you said looked really cool but never got around to playing. So without further ado, here’s my first pick. The Stillness of the Wind It’d be easy to downplay this one’s successes, shrugging it off as a dreary take on somethin…
Mortal Kombat 11 on Switch look like another super impressive mobile port
With Mortal Kombat 11 now available for PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Switch, the big question of how that mobile port stacks up against the home console versions has now been answered. And, for the most part, it seems like pretty good news. It comes as an especially big surprise that it’s decent seeing as we only got our first look at the port less than a week ago. Unsurprisingly, the Switch version has taken a noticeable hit to resolution – with the cutscenes in particular looking fairly murky, to my eyes below 720p – but the framerate does appear solid, which is really the most important thing in a fighting game anyway. When in motion, that lowered resolution isn’t quit…
Distraint 2 is a truly great mobile horror game
Genuinely great horror games on mobile are typically few and far between, so it’s absolutely cause for celebration when a title as sharp and unnerving as Distraint 2 comes along. The original Distraint launched for iOS back in 2017, gaining praise for its tight control of tone and absorbing exploration of guilt. Thematically, it was a challenging game, forcing players to confront the widespread impact of their own struggles to make ends meet in a system that allows for the constant and easy dehumanisation of others. The sequel continues to follow this thematic line of questioning, expanding it in ways that surprise and disturb in equal measure. It retains the grim aesthetic of the…
Very Little Nightmares for iOS expands the world and mythos of Little Nightmares
I don’t think I’d ever have guessed that 2017’s Little Nightmares would become such a sizeable trans-media hit. With a fully-fledged sequel likely in development, a mobile spinoff on the horizon, and a TV show hailing from Marvel’s Russo brothers & stop-motion animation legend Henry Selick, the Little Nightmares IP is well on its way to becoming a household name. In retrospect, I suppose there was no better time for Little Nightmares to have come along, with Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, It 1& 2, and Goosebumps 1 & 2 proving that fantasy horror – with a specific focus on children vs monsters storylines – is very much in high demand. Very…
My week with The Elder Scrolls: Blades
Around a week ago now, I put together something of a beginner’s guide over on Pocket Gamer for The Elder Scrolls: Blades. In that article, I had a bit of a moan about the current state of Blades’ chest/loot system, as has seemingly everyone else who’s played the game at this point. Now that Blades’ early access version has opened its doors to any and all comers, I have to wonder just how many people will actually stick with it until the full 1.0 release. Usually I’m happy to reserve judgement until such time as a game is in a finished state, but something about Blades’ monetisation model has got me irked. I think the reason why is that the core gameplay…
The Elder Scrolls: Blades’ latest update looks to fix the game’s biggest problem
The much-reviled silver chest has been the bane of many a Blades player’s existence for the last couple weeks. Every mission seemed to doll out a silly amount of them, meaning everyone’s chest inventory was almost constantly full. The real issue, though, was that each silver chest took 3 real-world hours to unlock, a dreary process that put many of us off the game entirely. However, with the game’s latest update, Blades’ development team has listened to the overwhelming fan feedback and shortened the timer significantly. Now you’ll only have to wait a mere hour before yet again being disappointed with the contents of your 30th silver chest in a row. The move j…
