Game Topz (gamtopz@gmail.com)

Eli is on the road at a Hearthstone (Free) event, so it’s time for another Cartercast with Jared and Carter driving this podcast down the freeway this week. The gang discusses EA wanting you to take Command and Conquer: Rivals seriously, and why maybe EA isn’t the best company to make that argument. They get hyped for Cat Quest 2 , and point out that Cat Quest ($1.99) is $1.99 right now…and so is FTL ($1.99) . There’s some talk about Fortnite (Free) cross-play and whether Sony will finally make a move, hype for Battleheart 2 now for preorder, the Heroki ($4.99) re-release, and a warning to download Pinball Arcade (Free) licensed tables while you still can! Finally, there’s discussion of Castle Pals (Free) , Super Jump Soccer (Free) , and kORi WALk (Free) before Carter and Jared drive this podcast off the overpass. Don’t forget to shoot us emails with any questions, feedback, or anything else relevant or irrelevant to podcast@toucharcade.com . We read ’em all, and lov...

The idea behind the TouchArcade Game of the Week is that every Friday afternoon we post the one game that came out this week that we think is worth giving a special nod to. Now, before anyone goes over-thinking this, it doesn’t necessarily mean our Game of the Week pick is the highest scoring game in a review, the game with the best graphics, or really any other quantifiable “best" thing. Instead, it’s more just us picking out the single game out of the week’s releases that we think is the most noteworthy, surprising, interesting, or really any other hard to describe quality that makes it worth having if you were just going to pick up one . These picks might be controversial, and that’s OK. If you disagree with what we’ve chosen, let’s try to use the comments of these articles to have conversations about what game is your game of the week and why . Without further ado…   Six Ages: Ride Like the Wind It has been QUITE a journey for developer A Sharp and their game Six Ages: ...

It takes a lot of blood sweat and tears for developers to release beautifully performing and polished games. Nothing is ever perfect on the first try – this is why developers are always looking for beta testers. If you are interested in joining a beta test, head on over to our Pre-orders, Soft launches and upcoming iOS games forums where you are sure to find a game that sounds like fun to try. I play quite a few games in beta myself; not only can my feedback help a developer, I also get a sneak peek at games I may like to review later. Wanting to help developers and share these awesome upcoming games with you all is how BetaWatch was born in my mind. It’s not a definitive list, or even a best of list; rather it’s just a quick look at the games I’ve been playing in beta last week. So, what did I play last week and what did I think of them? Read on and find out. Tower Power When I first jumped in on the beta testing for Tower Power by LemonChili Games I was quite disappointed as t...

Welcome to the SwitchArcade Roundup for June 29th! This…is a busy day. New major ports, a bunch of news, a ton of new sales on the eShop, let’s quit noodling around and get into the news. Nintendo is now releasing new content for Splatoon 2 on a monthly basis, with June 30th seeing a drop of new stuff. The New Albacore Hotel is the new level, a spacious level with plenty of water hazards. Meanwhile, there are four new weapons, and the Ranked mode map rotation for July are available on the official Splatoon Tumblr , which is a thing. Nintendo releases detailed patch notes and has a Tumblr now, they’re hip! Mario Tennis Aces 1.1.1 adds Elo-style rating, and balance changes The first post-launch update for Mario Tennis Aces adds in the Rating feature that will launch with the July tournaments. Additionally, there are some balance changes coming for characters. Don’t nerf my beloved Bowser Jr. too much, I need any help I can get! Nintendo also has a list of the new characters coming...

Just when you think Bandai Namco has devised every possible way to feature the popular manga and anime characters for which it has the rights to create mobile games, the company surprises you with something new. Notice we didn’t say revolutionary, because all that Dragon Ball Legends (Free) does is the most obvious possible thing, which is to make a fighting game about super powerful characters from a franchise that just so happens to mostly be about them fighting each other. This stuff isn’t always rocket science, folks. So while we’ve had good games in other genres about the Dragon Ball gang, this is the first one in a while that focuses strictly on them beating the tar out of each other with fists, kicks, power blasts and other moves that look pretty impressive in the grand scheme of things. It’s pretty close to a full-on fighting game, albeit with very simple controls and some card game elements, but it totally makes sense given the IP. It’s also reliant on the gacha-style “go...

This week in Arena of Valor hasn’t felt all that significant, honestly – but in retrospect, it’s been just as busy as any other. A new (temporary) game mode released, as did a new hero, but for some reason or another, this month’s version update just didn’t feel as grand as the last despite it buffing and nerfing nearly every character in the game. Let’s put things into perspective. Arena of Valor Nintendo Switch Beta Arrives – But Fails To Impress A time we’ve all been waiting for, Arena of Valor makes its wider debut on the Nintnedo Switch console close to a year after its initial reveal. Although only a closed beta test before the full release this fall, the sheer amount of beta keys being dished out by popular content creators puts a large amount of potential players in the running to try out the elongated demo. Hopefully far from a completed product – depsite all the delays – the Nintendo Switch beta is a little worrisome. It might seem like the better of the two versions if yo...

Back in early May, Farsight Studios dropped a bombshell on fans of its baby, the multiplatform Pinball Arcade (Free) . The current holder of the rights to the Bally/Williams pinball IP decided not to renew its agreement with Farsight, which meant two big things for Pinball Arcade . First, its Nintendo Switch release, which had been available for the briefest of moments with the familiar table arrangements, had to be pulled and re-released with all of the Bally/Williams tables stripped out. Second, all versions of Pinball Arcade would no longer be selling any Bally/Williams tables after the end of the current contract, which expires on June 30th. Wait a minute! That’s tomorrow ! Yes, the day has arrived, friends. While I rang the dinner bell pretty loudly at the time of the announcement, I thought it would be prudent to give you all a gentle reminder of the incoming Pinball-pocalypse. More than 60 tables will be removed from sale after tomorrow. Farsight has assured everyone that a...

After basically looking like it was vaporware, Level-5’s Fantasy Life Online is back and seemingly releasing in Summer 2018. I say seemingly because given Level-5’s track record, I won’t believe it until it shows up on the App Store. Fantasy Life on the Nintendo 3DS is still one of my most played games in recent times. It is my most played game on 3DS above the Fire Emblem games and the Etrian Odyssey releases I’ve poured dozens of hours into. While many were skeptical about a mobile only release, I’ve been looking forward to it ever since it was announced three years ago. Fantasy Life ‘s core gameplay is basically like a more casual MMO with tons of busy work but it hooked me with its charm and the music. This gameplay style would fit perfectly on mobile and even adapt well to free to play. Watch the new trailer for Fantasy Life Online below: Fantasy Life Online will let you pick a life (or class) and your journey in game will vary based on the choice you make. There are com...

You’d have to be living under a rock at this point if you haven’t heard of Fortnite (Free) because it is the biggest game right now on any platform and while it has made a ton of money on mobile , the game still hasn’t released on Android. Epic Games announced that the Android version should release in Summer this year and this hasn’t stopped many from getting scammed into downloading malicious APKs. While the iOS “walled garden" approach has led to many apps getting rejected , Android’s more open approach leaves many users susceptible to getting scammed through sideloading and more. The latest of these big scams comes through YouTube videos reports anti-virus firm McAfee. This scam begins with users searching Google or YouTube for information about Fortnite on Android which brings up various results that claim to have the easiest way to install the game on Android or links to download the game. Unsuspecting users then proceed to watch a YouTube scam video that links to a f...

Following the success of their online racing title SUP Multiplayer Racing (Free) , which has seen more than 30 million downloads since its launch in May of last year, French developer Oh BiBi is looking to take on the ultra-competitive online shooter genre with their forthcoming game called simply FRAG . Taking a page out of the “hero shooter" sub-genre of shooters that was kicked off many years ago by Team Fortress 2 and hit the mainstream with titles like Overwatch and Paladins , FRAG will feature a whopping 40+ different characters which you’ll assemble into teams of 5 to take on opponents in an arena setting. Matches are designed to be quick with the ability to switch freely between your team members and instant respawning following death. Check out the teaser trailer for FRAG to see it in action. Oh BiBi is looking to have a large social component in FRAG as well, going so far as to essentially building an entire social platform right into the game where players can ...

In the last decade, so many games have been released on the App Store that the questions of “What are the best games?" or even “What are your favorite games" have gone from quick and easy answers to long, drawn out discussions. My response these days typically ups the ante to, “Well, if I was stuck on a desert island and I could only have three games…" as otherwise the list of bests and favorites can go on for hours. Inside of that context, an iPad with FTL: Faster Than Light ($1.99) is always where I start. Hell, I feel like I could make a pretty good argument that FTL is one of the best iPad games. I still totally stand by my review from 2014 , and arguably only feel stronger about the game having played it for the last four years. I’ve even done long-haul international flights where the only game I played was FTL. If for some incredible reason you’ve never heard of FTL before, it’s a spaceship management game with many randomized (dare I say, roguelike) elemen...

Following a well-received launch on Nintendo Switch last October, and its launch on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 at the beginning of this month, developer Pixel Perfex is now bringing their unique underwater shoot’em up Earth Atlantis to the iOS platform next month. Following the “Great Climate Shift" at the end of the 21st century, 96% of the Earth is now underwater, and things are bad. To top it off, machines have also become hybrid with living creatures, and so this post-apocalyptic underwater nightmare also features some extremely scary robotic monsters who have taken on the form of various marine life. So things are REALLY bad. Luckily, you have a sweet submarine of death equipped with an array of weaponry in order to hunt down and kill these vile sea freaks. Check out the Earth Atlantis trailer. As you can see, Earth Atlantis has a really unique art style that utilizes a monochromatic color palette and a really cool “Old Sketching" visual style. In fact, even before...

The saga surrounding the drama Sony created with locking out Fortnite (Free) crossplay is slowly going from “like the Lord of the Rings movies" to “like the extended edition of Lord of the Rings." The supreme cliffsnotes effectively amounts to Fortnite was released on the Nintendo Switch during E3, and people quickly discovered that if you’ve ever played Fortnite on a PS4 your Epic account was permanently locked and could never be used on the Switch. The internet exploded, as any way you slice this it’s certified B.S., and of course, Sony being Sony basically responded, “ Deal with it ." Not long after, an ex-Sony exec offered the obvious motivation behind these decisions: Money . In the time since then, anger has still been brewing, although it seems most people have come to grips with the fact that this is just Sony being Sony and nothing is going to change… Until this morning. Per a report from Eurogamer out of Gamelab in Spain , Shawn Layden, president and C...

I haven’t been sleeping well lately, for various reasons. I now know why: it was my body getting me ready to mine some salt for this story that got sent to me overnight, because I have never seen such pure amounts of salt to be mined. EA’s chief design officer, in an interview with Patrick Söderlund with GamesIndustry.biz makes a defense of Command and Conquer Rivals and of mobile gaming. The game received a negative reaction from the “real gamers" after it was announced during EA’s E3 press conference, and there wasn’t a new PC Command and Conquer game also in tow. Söderlund says “We’re going to come to a point where we need to respect mobile games as much as console games. I know that’s difficult to see when you come to E3, but our mobile business is growing quite significantly, and we look at those teams with the same value and the same integrity as we look at our console teams. And we believe this is the best interpretation we can do of the brand right now." Oh yes,...

Originally scheduled to release on iOS and Android on June 28, Pokémon Quest (Free) from The Pokémon Company has dropped a day early. If you missed the original release , Pokémon Quest is a free to play action RPG with blocky visuals where you control a trio of Pokémon. Attacks are automatic but you can make use of special attacks which have their own cooldown timers. Your aim is to upgrade and evolve your Pokémon by completing levels. Pokémon Quest is set on Tumblecube Island and only features Pokémon from the Kanto region which means the first 151. Watch the mobile trailer for it below: While the Switch version lets you play with physical or traditional controls, Pokémon Quest is definitely a touch first game that also happens to work and be on the Nintendo Switch. With so many mobile games seeing success and ports on the Switch, we might even see some Switch titles drop on mobile and the strategy of launching on Switch first before mobile has been interesting. While a lot...

Fortnite (Free) 4.5 downtime has begun and as is the norm, we have the patch notes ahead of the servers going back online. While this was seemingly delayed by a day, I expected some Nintendo Switch specific fixes but the patch is mostly focussed on the new mode. On the iOS front, the patch notes mention adding settings on mobile (it is iOS only for now) for low power mode and scalability. There are also bug fixes for vibration but the highlight of the patch is the Playground LTM which lets you get creative. This mode lets you drop onto the island with up to 3 friends and explore and just try out whatever you’ve wanted to do without having the stress of surviving. You can use weapons, build, fight against use friends, and more here. There is a 1 hour time limit here and it is baffling that this is basically the first tutorial / practice like area in the Battle Royale mode since launch. Having just launched on Switch, this is well timed though. Players killed will respawn as well u...

One-man Australian indie developer Ben Droste and his studio 100 Stones Interactive released a well-received puzzle adventure for PC and Mac back in mid-2016 called The Eyes of Ara , and today he’s announced that the game will be arriving on iOS next month. The premise of The Eyes of Ara is as follows: “When an inexplicable radio transmission begins emanating from an old castle, a lone radio technician is sent to discover the source. Explore the intricately crafted and sometimes whimsical rooms of the enormous gothic structure, manipulate the environment to solve perplexing puzzles, and unlock new areas while searching for the source of the strange transmission. Track down clues and hunt for hidden collectibles to reveal the forgotten history of the castle and its former residents. What became of the people who lived there? How did the signal come to be? Who is the castle trying to contact? The only way to answer these questions is to locate all the secrets and reach the signal’s s...

Sometimes while looking for the next awesome game to review I stumble across hidden gems and fall in love. Although they may be too simple and small to warrant a full review, they are, in my opinion, great big balls of awesome, and the world should hear about them. Who better to tell you then me, right? Some of the games are new releases, some are not, but they are all games I think worthy of recognition and praise. If you have heard of them you most likely know them to be as surprisingly addictive and fun to play as I do. If you haven’t heard about them, read on and find quick and entertaining games you can spend a few minutes or hours at a time playing. Bardbarian A game with a considerable fan base already Bardbarian   ($4.99) may not be exactly a hidden a gem, there is a sizeable fan base who began playing the game when it was first published and reviewed by Touch Arcade in 2014. Developed by TreeFortress Games it was an instant hit and even made Game of the Week . ...