Friday, May 22, 2015

Mobile Game Roundup: Earthcore: Shattered Elements, Brickies and More

Are you looking for a new mobile game to try this weekend? Look no further, as this week was full of new releases, containing a little something for everyone. For instance, Gameloft released its new match-three puzzle game, Ice Age Avalanche, while Insomniac Games continued its expansion into mobile with the release of its Bad Dinos tower defense game. Amazon Game Studios and WayForward released Til Morning’s Light, an action-adventure game set in a haunted mansion, and Plain Vanilla Games revamped its QuizUp social trivia game with hefty social networking features.

Still looking for new games? Check out our look at some additional new releases below.

Earthcore: Shattered Elements (Free on iOS) – From developer Tequila Games, this card battle game was designed to minimize the \"randomness\" typically associated with the genre, instead replacing it with true strategy, as players can create large skill combos to defeat their opponents. Cards contain elemental affinities and relate to others in a \"rock, paper, scissors\" mechanic, and also have risk numbers. When enemies attack and cards go head-to-head in these elemental battles, the losing player also loses health points relating to these risk numbers. Some cards come with extra skills allowing them to instantly damage the enemy player or avoid unwise battles (as examples), with the game offering both single-player matches as well as player-vs-player leagues, tournaments and casual matches.

Triangulae ($1.99 on iOS) – From independent developer Ricardo Fonseca, Triangulae is a puzzle game asking players to manipulate groups of triangles to form squares. The game offers three modes, challenging players to either make squares without running out of moves or create as many squares as possible before running out of time. In each mode, players are presented with a tiled game board, with tiles containing one individual triangle. Players drag these around the board to create full squares and earn points.

Haunted Empire: Three Kingdoms (Free on iOS) – Previously released on Android devices, this MOBA-meets-RPG from ELEX sees players competing in single-player dungeons or multiplayer battles as one of four classes of hero: warrior, healer, archer or mage. The game supports multiple group sizes in multiplayer battles, from one-on-one matches to 10-on-10 battles. As players complete dungeons, they’ll unlock additional heroes, and they can equip them with gear to make them stronger over time.

Crazy Kings (Free on iOS) – From Wooga and Finnish studio TicBits, this tower defense game combines traditional tower defense with card collecting, as players fight dozens of enemy types and level up their hero across level-based battles. During battle, players spend mana to play cards to the field to protect their base. These may offer basic towers, or traps to slow down enemies, as examples. In addition, the player hero serves as a moving tower of sorts, as players can drag them around the field to attack oncoming enemies. In between battles, players can customize their battle deck to unlock new ways to defeat enemies.

9 Clues 2: The Ward ($4.99 / $6.99 on iPhone, iPad) – From G5 Entertainment and Artifex Mundi, this adventure game takes players to Mnemosyne Asylum, where they’ll complete hidden object scenes and explore 42 locations. The game’s atmosphere is described as one of \"madness, lies and guilt,\" and players will be challenged to complete 18 different puzzles and mini-games as they uncover the asylum’s dark secrets. 9 Clues 2: The Ward offers three difficulty settings and 19 achievements to unlock as gamers progress.

Fireman Sam

Fireman Sam: Hero Adventures ($1.99 on Amazon) – Available exclusively on the Amazon Appstore, this children’s game from Mattel takes young players to the world of Pontypandy as they explore the town and complete rescue missions in the air, on land and in the sea, guided by Fireman Sam himself. As examples, one mission may see players navigating a fire truck to a burning building to put out a fire, while another challenges them to steer a rescue boat to find overboard passengers, and so on. The game is also available through Amazon’s FreeTime Unlimited content subscription service for kids.

The Top Spot (Free on iOS) – From Squidgy Hippo and Chillingo, The Top Spot is a level-based puzzle game, asking players to tap on circles from top to bottom, based on how they overlap. Since many circles are moving, players need to be especially observant during the moments when they overlap. Levels become more complicated as players progress, with a \"stop\" functionality allowing users to stop the movement of a chosen symbol in cases, for instance, where an obstacle may stop circles from touching.

Bubbla (Free on iOS, Android) – From TINYSOFT, Bubbla is a level-based puzzle game, challenging players to save the goldfish queen from her evil crab captors. The goal of each level is to cause large chain reactions, destroying all enemies on the screen in as few moves as possible. When one enemy is destroyed, it sends out a wave of projectiles, eliminating other enemies in the wave’s path. As such, players are challenged to tap on enemies in the right order to cause the right chain reactions. Players collect coins as they play, which are used to purchase new visual skins for the game.

Rushin' Paris

Rushin’ Paris (Free on iOS, Android) – From Paris Saint-Germain and 3DDuo Studio, Rushin’ Paris is a level-based runner starring the Paris Saint-Germain squad. In each of the game’s 60 levels, players will swipe left and right to move their runner between three lanes, and swipe up or down to jump over or slide under obstacles. Gamers collect balls as they run, which can be used as currency to purchase new players or upgrade overall player skills, like magnet or invisibility boosts.

Fun Run 2 (Free on Windows Phone) – Following the game’s release on iOS, Android and Amazon devices, Dirtybit’s multiplayer racing game, Fun Run 2, is now available for Windows Phone users. The game sees players racing against others in real-time while avoiding obstacles and picking up weapons to slow down their opponents.

Jurassic World The Game

Jurassic World: The Game (Free on Android, Amazon) – Following its release on iOS, Ludia’s theme park construction game (based on the Jurassic World film) has launched on Android and Amazon devices, allowing players to construct their very own home for dinosaurs, which can be fed and fused to create stronger creatures. As players collect dinosaurs, they’re challenged to complete arena battles, which allow players to control their dinosaurs in combat against rival teams.

Brickies (Free on iOS) – From Noodlecake Studios, Brickies was inspired by the classic Breakout arcade game, and it features more than 100 levels to complete, as players drag their finger around the screen to control paddles, bouncing an orb off of these paddles to destroy shapes in the middle of the screen. Special powers unlock over time, including explosive balls, saw balls and more. Levels are timed, but if gamers fail a stage, they can replay stages as many times as necessary, with no lives or energy system in place. Gamers can also watch videos to add additional time to a particularly challenging stage.

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