Mobile Game Roundup: Cooking Dash 2016, Vegas Aces and More

This year’s E3 video game convention may have been the major focus for many game developers this week, but many still made time to release new games for mobile devices.

Bethesda led the week, launching Fallout Shelter after its E3 press conference Sunday evening, while Disney released its newest title, Inside Out Thought Bubbles, in association with the theatrical release of Disney Pixar film Inside Out.

Finally, Garfield turns 37 this week, and Animoca Brands has celebrated the occasion by releasing two different match-three games: Garfield’s Epic Food Fight for Android and Garfield Chef: Game of Food on iOS.

Of course, these aren’t the only games that hit app stores this week. Here’s a look at a few others which are now available.

Cooking Dash 2016 (Free on iOS, Android, Amazon) – Flo is back in this latest installment of the popular time-management franchise. From Glu Mobile, Cooking Dash 2016 is a level-based title, asking players to cook dishes for customers to match their specific orders. As guests order dishes, players tap on raw ingredients, and tap again on the appropriate prep or cooking stations to prepare each dish. The faster players serve hungry patrons, the more coins they’ll earn and the more stars they’ll receive for the level. Coins can be spent on upgrades for the restaurant, which may improve individual appliances, improve food quality or improve customer patience.

Lines ($2.99 on iOS, Windows Phone) – From Dutch developer Gamious, Lines is a puzzle game offering 250 levels at launch, which can play differently each time they’re tried. In each level, players place or remove a dot to cause multiple colors to fill lines and complete a drawing, in a sort of race. The color with the longest line wins the race.

Bonza National Geographic (Free on iOS, Android, Amazon) – From Bonza Word Puzzle creator MiniMega, Bonza National Geographic is a word and image puzzle game combining elements from crosswords and jigsaw puzzles. In keeping with the National Geographic theme, the puzzles here focus on topics like animals, travel, Earth, humanity and science. In each game, players tap and drag pieces of a crossword or jigsaw puzzle, which each contain portions of images or words. For instance, in a word puzzle, one piece may contain the letters “pl,” while another piece contains “us.” Players would combine them to form the word “plus.” While the game offers a few puzzle packs for free, additional packs can be purchased with free currency or real money.

Dream Drop (Free on iOS) – From 505 Games, Tic Toc Games and The Broken Toy Studios, Dream Drop is a level-based puzzle game, challenging players to help a young girl defeat Night Terrors and protect the world’s \"sleep.\" In each stage, players are presented with an assortment of colorful Night Terror symbols at the top of the screen, and must tap to pick up a chosen Night Terror at the bottom of a column. Players tap again to launch the symbol back at the formation, with the goal of creating groups of three or more like-colored Night Terrors, removing them from the screen. Dream Drop offers 120 levels at launch, and players have access to power-ups to help them complete stages.

Happy Kitten (Free on iOS) – An endless survival game from Pine Entertainment, Happy Kitten sees players helping a flying kitten progress through space by tapping on the screen to help her land on floating islands. As the kitten bounces off of islands, players must time their taps to ensure that she lands safely on the next island and doesn’t fall off of the screen. Players are encouraged to share their high scores with friends.

Rush of Heroes (Free on Android) – After a release in limited territories, Firefly Games has announced the worldwide release of this action RPG on Android devices. Rush of Heroes sees players creating a team of heroes and taking them into battle to earn treasure. Players can complete dungeons, as well as arena player-vs.-player battles and guild wars. In addition, the game offers mini-games themed around fishing, mining and an endless runner \"Gold Rush\" mode. During soft launch in China, Korea, Taiwan and Canada, Rush of Heroes was downloaded more than 70 million times.

Downhill Riders (Free on iOS) – From Happymagenta, Downhill Riders is a challenging endless survival game, which sees players speeding down steep hills, tapping on two buttons to change lanes or jump over obstacles. Players may collect coins as they race, and can spend these on new “vehicles” for future rides. The game supports automatic video recording, so players can share their replays with friends.

Game of Dragons (Free to try on iOS) – From G5 Entertainment, Game of Dragons sees players teleported to a world of magic and dragons, where they’re challenged to help a princess save her kingdom. The hidden-object adventure game sees players collecting key items and solving puzzles on one of two difficulty settings. The game includes concept art and wallpapers, as well as a walkthrough. While free to download and try, the full game unlock costs $4.99 on iPhone and $6.99 on iPad. The full game unlock will be on sale for $2.99 and $4.99 for iPhone and iPad (respectively) until the end of Friday (June 19).

Xenowerk ($1.99 on iOS) – A top-down shooter from Pixelbite, Xenowerk offers 50 levels at launch, and asks players to explore environments and eliminate mutant nests to prevent them from spreading. Players can pick up items from fallen mutants and power up their weapons and armor. Gamers also have access to special abilities when they’re in trouble.

Pop Voyage (Free on iOS, Android) – From Inlogic Software and Thumbspire, Pop Voyage is a level-based match-three puzzle game, asking players to swap the locations of touching balloons to create lines of three or more like-colored balloons. Each level has a different objective, like earning a large number of points or breaking blocks by making matches on top of them. Players earn up to three stars on each stage, depending on their score, and will unlock a variety of power-ups as they progress.

Vegas Aces (Free on iOS, Android) – From Toast, the mobile publishing branch of NHN Entertainment, Vegas Aces is a level-based poker puzzle game. In each level, players are given a board of small, randomized playing cards, and gamers draw lines on these cards to create traditional poker hands (pairs, straights, full houses, and so on). While moves require cards to be touching, the game doesn’t require each move to contain five cards. In other words, players can make small matches, removing just two or three cards from the board at once, or full matches with five cards, in the case of things like flushes or straights. Players can create bonus chips, capable of clearing large groups of cards from the board, and will earn up to three stars on each level, depending on their score.