Game Topz (gamtopz@gmail.com)

I don’t really like Chess, but I WANT to like Chess. I think the rules and strategies are interesting, and can fully appreciate why it’s such a highly regarded and enduring game. I just… don’t have the brain capacity for it. But like I said, I WANT to like it, and the new mobile game Lazy Chess also wants me to like it and is able to do that with some very clever design decisions. There are more variations and unique takes on Chess than you can shake one of those horsey pieces at, but Lazy Chess doesn’t really fall into those categories. This is a straight-up version of Chess, but the crucial change is that the game uses AI to offer you the two best moves each time it’s your turn to play. It doesn’t tell you which move is the BEST move given the situation, but you’ve got a 50/50 shot at it. And… that’s it. That’s the game. It utilizes the highly rated Stockfish Chess engine to determine what to moves to show you, and if you pick the better of the two moves it will let you know, and...

Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for January 29th, 2021. As is often the case with Fridays, a bunch of games that weren’t on the schedule suddenly appeared out of nowhere. There’s also a flood of new sales to look at, in case the new releases weren’t enough. So that’s what we’ve got: summaries of all of the new games, and lists of the incoming and outgoing sales. Let’s get to work! New Releases G-MODE Archives29 Zanac ($4.99) SwitchArcade Highlight! Here’s another in G-Mode’s line of ports of classic mobile games. This is just the second of this series we’ve seen release outside of Japan, and it’s easy to see why it was picked. Not everyone remembers Zanac from back in the day, but those that do generally have very fond memories of Compile’s groundbreaking shoot-em-up. It’s a predecessor to the celebrated Aleste series of shooters, and it’s very enjoyable. Keep in mind that this is a port of a mobile port, and as such is missing some levels and oth...

Earlier this month month, Jared wrote about a few upcoming Apple Arcade games including the recently released NUTS , Spire Blast , and today’s new release Populus Run () from FIFTYTWO. When I saw Populus Run on the App Store, I wasn’t sure what to think of it based on the screenshots but as with most Apple Arcade games, I added it to the queue to check out. When I finally got around to watching the trailer a bit later, I knew I had to play Populus Run as soon as it is available just based on the music and sound design. It turns out the gameplay itself is a lot fun as well. Populus Run feels like it blends a behind-the-back runner with crowd control. As you progress through levels, you pickup more people who run with everyone together and your aim is to collect coins, secrets, and as many runners as possible when you’ve reached the end of a level. Watch the Populus Run trailer below: In its current state, there’s a lot to do across each of the levels through the in-game requi...

LINE Games continues its string of mobile successes with its hit RPG, Exos Heroes . With its Season 3 update titled “Blooded Rhapsody”, Exos Heroes will introduce a brand new Nation called Saint West. Along with this exciting new area to explore is the arrival of three new Heroes as well: John Donk, Carrie, and Nemeris. This week’s big update will also reward players simply by logging into the game – you can easily score a Gold Fatecore and an Exclusive Weapon of your choice. You can check out the 7-Day Gift event for an Exclusive Weapon Selection Ticket on the 7th day of login. The daily login bonus also includes 3,000 Xes, 1,000,000 Gold, 100 Dye Coupons, and more. As for new players curious to dip their toes into the seemingly intimidating game, getting started is as easy as ever – new content upgrades and convenience features will allow new players to jump right in seamlessly without any overwhelming info overload. For instance, the new content “Hero Growth Guide” will assist pl...

A month ago, Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim from Nihon Falcom was announced for an iOS and Android release in Japan through Manhattan Project. If you’re not familiar with Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim , it is a part of the long-running action RPG Ys series has had tons of releases across different platforms ever since the original debuted back in 1987. On iOS and Android, Ys I and Ys II Chronicles from Dotemu are available with Ys VIII set to release in the future. Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim originally released in the West on PS2 and it was eventually released on PSP and then PC. The initial mobile announcement only mentioned that Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim would hit iOS and Android in 2021 in Japan. Today, pre-registrations have gone live and the game has been confirmed to be a free to play “online RPG" titled Ys VI Online: The Ark of Napishtim . There are no actual screenshots or gameplay videos of this release yet. Check out the game’s official art from the official Twitte...

Last week, miHoYo announced the Genshin Impact (Free) version 1.3 update release date. If you missed out on the feature reveal for the update, Genshin Impact 1.3 includes controller support, pre-installation support for updates on mobile, and more. Read more about those features here . Today, miHoYo revealed how the pre-installation will work on mobile platforms and when it will go live. Pre-installation will let players save time when the update actually launches and servers are back up since a majority of the data will have been pre-installed. The Genshin Impact 1.3 pre-installation for mobile and PC platforms goes live on February 1st from within the app. On PC, players can play Genshin Impact while pre-installing game resources but mobile players will not be able to play while the pre-installation is happening. On iOS and Android, you can pre-install from the title screen by tapping the pre-install button on the bottom left when it goes live or from the settings menu under...

We have been covering Magic: The Gathering Arena ever since its original announcement back in August of 2017, and as folks who still have a hard time believing that there isn’t a quality digital take on Magic: The Gathering on mobile yet while Hearthstone has been filling that void for many years now, Arena’s mobile release really can’t come quickly enough. After spending a couple of years in beta, Magic: The Gathering Arena officially launched on PC in the fall of 2019, with a cross-platform compatible Mac version arriving the following summer. Unfortunately us poor mobile folks have been left out in the cold so far, but as we learned a few weeks back , that is set to change in 2021. As of today Magic: The Gathering Arena is now available on select Android devices in Early Access on the Google Play Store . The Android version of Magic: The Gathering Arena coincides with the launch of the latest Magic expansion set, called Kaldheim, and just like the desktop versions of the gam...

Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for January 28th, 2021. There are a ton of new releases to check out today, with quite a few interesting, high-quality games on offer. We’ve got summaries of all of them, along with all of the incoming and outgoing sales. That’s really it for this one, but with how many new releases there are to look at, I’m hoping it’s sufficient. Let’s get into it! New Releases Heaven’s Vault ($17.99) SwitchArcade Highlight! Oh look, it’s a heckin’ inkle game. So you know you have to go and buy it without me even needing to say anything , right? This is a non-linear narrative adventure with a cool sci-fi theme. An archaeologist and her robot assistant are on a search for a missing roboticist, and they end up on a wild adventure full of possibilities. It’s well-written, has excellent visuals, and the soundtrack is sublime. Simply an incredible achievement of a game from this developer once again, and one I’ll be giving a full review o...