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. This week is mostly about those free-to-play shenanigans, but that’s the way it goes sometimes. We’ve at least got a few games we don’t usually feature in these articles, so that’s something. I even picked something different for the obligatory free-to-play puzzle game for this week! Of course, you can keep an eye out for updates yourself using AppShopper or 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!
Let’s tee off with an Apple Arcade game that got updated in the last week. What The Golf? is a game you can really only properly enjoy the first time since it is so dependent on surprising the player. That makes new content as valuable as digital gold, and is why I’m excited to see this latest version. The Sporty Sports Special gives you more wacky takes on various sports, and there are some really funny bits in here as you would expect. The UI has seen some improvements, particularly through a new menu with a variety of helpful features. Finally, some bug fixes, performance improvements, and improved loading round things out.
Don’t tell the Shadowy Consortium that rules from the Penthouse of TouchArcade Towers, but this update is actually a couple of weeks old. It’s a slow day. Anyway, that Tetris game that I’m sure some people enjoy got three new ways to play Tetris in its latest update. Tetris Primetime sees you competing for real cash prizes in daily tournaments, Tetris Royale is a rip-off of Tetris 99, and Tetris Together lets you invite friends to Royale matches where you can all chat privately together about how ugly that other player’s Hawaiian shirt looks or whatever.
Marvel Strike Force‘s latest update sees a few new characters join the playable roster, but I’ll be darned if I can figure out the pattern behind them. Assuming there is one, anyway. At any rate, make room for Squirrel Girl, Beast, and Emma Frost! At first I thought it might be that they were all mutants, but Squirrel Girl has carefully established that she is not, in fact, a mutant. Maybe it’s that they all have the letter ‘S’ in their names? Yeah, let’s go with that. Beyond that there are a lot of bug fixes and some rearranging of the deck chairs in the UI. Nothing huge, but it’s there.
The usual disclaimer: I write some history articles for GameClub and they pay me money to do so. I only include GameClub’s releases in these articles if I would have included them anyway, though. And that’s the case for the amazing Sway, a swinging and swaying adventure from the early days of the App Store that hadn’t seen an update in more than 10 years. A lot of work went into making this game look and play well on today’s devices, so make sure you check it out. It’s a lot of fun.
Another update for CSR Racing 2, and as usual it translates to new events and new cars to add to your collection. Some of the prizes you can win include the Dodge Charger Daytona and the Ford Escort Mk1 RS1600, a pair of rides that would look pretty sweet in any garage. The latest Made in America event will take you on a road trip around America, with a chance to get behind the wheel of some legendary cars. Finally, the fourth collection of Elite Customs cars have been added to the game, with six new customizable vehicles you can tweak to perfection.
Oh, oh, oh, it’s Magic. You know. That’s all I’ve got. I’m very tired today, friends. The bad jokes just will not come. So let’s just get through this so I can take a couple aspirins and have a nice nap, okay? A new season has started in Magic: ManaStrike. The Ixalan Season, I guess? Battle players from around the world, as Planeswalkers do. This new version also makes some balance adjustments and fixes some pesky bugs. It also improves convenience, whatever that means. Probably UI tweaks, but I can’t be sure and I don’t see any Coast-bound Wizards around I can Falcon Punch for the information.
I guess this game’s title is now World of Tanks Blitz MMO? I’m not sure Wargaming knows what those letters stand for, but alrighty. The latest update to the game adds a new map, the Yukon. It has some industrial buildings to scoot around and use for cover, and hey, who doesn’t like having a new map to play on? There’s also a special summer event featuring the WZ Blaze tank destroyer and other rewards. This new version also sees the return of Gravity Force, which sees tanks fly through the air because why the heck not?
Mario Kart Tour‘s next huge update is coming soon, adding the ability to play in landscape mode. Yes, that’s cool. But you know what else is cool? The latest tour, which sees none other than Captain Toad join the playable roster. Aw yes, Captain Toad. If you haven’t played Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker on Wii U, Nintendo 3DS, or Nintendo Switch, you should do that. And Nintendo? You really should put Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker on mobile. Just saying. Out of my appreciation for Captain Toad, I’m giving this game the coveted UMMSotW award for this week.
The big new feature in this update is the Whale Inn. Hmm, can’t decide if that’s too on the nose or not. Well, let’s move on. Located on the Ranhorn tab and unlocked after completing Chapter 4, the Whale Inn allows players to visit and collect gifts from friends who have visited their own Whale Inn. Eventually, you’re able to move heroes into the Whale Inn, where they will collect furniture that gives them new abilities and improved stats. The Field of Stars feature in the Library will unlock different Starbursts that will also give you some bonuses. There are also some new adventures, a new 4x Battle Speed feature you can unlock, a whole lot of balance changes, and more. All in all, a very big update for the game that has a lot of new things to check out.
We’ll finish things up with Rules of Survival‘s newest update. Are people still playing this game? I don’t know, but it updated so it is here. Ranked matches get a new item in the form of the Drone, which is best used for some aerial scouting but can be expanded with offensive and additional detection capabilities by unlocking Drone Expansion Modules in events. This new version also kicks off the latest season and makes some changes to the Platoon Store. The Rush Hour and Ninjutsu Draw events have ended, and this update basically cleans up after them. That’s the lot.
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!
Let’s tee off with an Apple Arcade game that got updated in the last week. What The Golf? is a game you can really only properly enjoy the first time since it is so dependent on surprising the player. That makes new content as valuable as digital gold, and is why I’m excited to see this latest version. The Sporty Sports Special gives you more wacky takes on various sports, and there are some really funny bits in here as you would expect. The UI has seen some improvements, particularly through a new menu with a variety of helpful features. Finally, some bug fixes, performance improvements, and improved loading round things out.
Don’t tell the Shadowy Consortium that rules from the Penthouse of TouchArcade Towers, but this update is actually a couple of weeks old. It’s a slow day. Anyway, that Tetris game that I’m sure some people enjoy got three new ways to play Tetris in its latest update. Tetris Primetime sees you competing for real cash prizes in daily tournaments, Tetris Royale is a rip-off of Tetris 99, and Tetris Together lets you invite friends to Royale matches where you can all chat privately together about how ugly that other player’s Hawaiian shirt looks or whatever.
Marvel Strike Force‘s latest update sees a few new characters join the playable roster, but I’ll be darned if I can figure out the pattern behind them. Assuming there is one, anyway. At any rate, make room for Squirrel Girl, Beast, and Emma Frost! At first I thought it might be that they were all mutants, but Squirrel Girl has carefully established that she is not, in fact, a mutant. Maybe it’s that they all have the letter ‘S’ in their names? Yeah, let’s go with that. Beyond that there are a lot of bug fixes and some rearranging of the deck chairs in the UI. Nothing huge, but it’s there.
The usual disclaimer: I write some history articles for GameClub and they pay me money to do so. I only include GameClub’s releases in these articles if I would have included them anyway, though. And that’s the case for the amazing Sway, a swinging and swaying adventure from the early days of the App Store that hadn’t seen an update in more than 10 years. A lot of work went into making this game look and play well on today’s devices, so make sure you check it out. It’s a lot of fun.
Another update for CSR Racing 2, and as usual it translates to new events and new cars to add to your collection. Some of the prizes you can win include the Dodge Charger Daytona and the Ford Escort Mk1 RS1600, a pair of rides that would look pretty sweet in any garage. The latest Made in America event will take you on a road trip around America, with a chance to get behind the wheel of some legendary cars. Finally, the fourth collection of Elite Customs cars have been added to the game, with six new customizable vehicles you can tweak to perfection.
Oh, oh, oh, it’s Magic. You know. That’s all I’ve got. I’m very tired today, friends. The bad jokes just will not come. So let’s just get through this so I can take a couple aspirins and have a nice nap, okay? A new season has started in Magic: ManaStrike. The Ixalan Season, I guess? Battle players from around the world, as Planeswalkers do. This new version also makes some balance adjustments and fixes some pesky bugs. It also improves convenience, whatever that means. Probably UI tweaks, but I can’t be sure and I don’t see any Coast-bound Wizards around I can Falcon Punch for the information.
I guess this game’s title is now World of Tanks Blitz MMO? I’m not sure Wargaming knows what those letters stand for, but alrighty. The latest update to the game adds a new map, the Yukon. It has some industrial buildings to scoot around and use for cover, and hey, who doesn’t like having a new map to play on? There’s also a special summer event featuring the WZ Blaze tank destroyer and other rewards. This new version also sees the return of Gravity Force, which sees tanks fly through the air because why the heck not?
Mario Kart Tour‘s next huge update is coming soon, adding the ability to play in landscape mode. Yes, that’s cool. But you know what else is cool? The latest tour, which sees none other than Captain Toad join the playable roster. Aw yes, Captain Toad. If you haven’t played Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker on Wii U, Nintendo 3DS, or Nintendo Switch, you should do that. And Nintendo? You really should put Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker on mobile. Just saying. Out of my appreciation for Captain Toad, I’m giving this game the coveted UMMSotW award for this week.
The big new feature in this update is the Whale Inn. Hmm, can’t decide if that’s too on the nose or not. Well, let’s move on. Located on the Ranhorn tab and unlocked after completing Chapter 4, the Whale Inn allows players to visit and collect gifts from friends who have visited their own Whale Inn. Eventually, you’re able to move heroes into the Whale Inn, where they will collect furniture that gives them new abilities and improved stats. The Field of Stars feature in the Library will unlock different Starbursts that will also give you some bonuses. There are also some new adventures, a new 4x Battle Speed feature you can unlock, a whole lot of balance changes, and more. All in all, a very big update for the game that has a lot of new things to check out.
We’ll finish things up with Rules of Survival‘s newest update. Are people still playing this game? I don’t know, but it updated so it is here. Ranked matches get a new item in the form of the Drone, which is best used for some aerial scouting but can be expanded with offensive and additional detection capabilities by unlocking Drone Expansion Modules in events. This new version also kicks off the latest season and makes some changes to the Platoon Store. The Rush Hour and Ninjutsu Draw events have ended, and this update basically cleans up after them. That’s the lot.
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!