GAMES OF THE WEEK - The 5 best new mobile games for iOS and Android - June 18th 2020
It's that time again! Time for another entry into our long-running GAMES OF THE WEEK series.
If you're looking for the best 5 games which have hit the iPhone, iPad or Android stores this week then you've landed yourself at the exact right place at just the right time. Lucky, lucky you.
With this article, we skirt around the droves of subscription services (Apple Arcade, Google Play Pass, GameClub, Hatch, and all of their friends) which have launched onto mobile platforms over the years. We also don't factor in things like Steam Link or Google Stadia which allow streaming to handheld devices - and would open up this list to almost every game under the sun.
What that means is that our list is a finely curated list of brilliant, fresh titles which you can download and play without subscribing to, or installing, any third-party initiative. Of course, there are some great games on those services, but, let's focus on the stuff that you can grab right now.
It's been a great week for mobile games this week, with seminal card-roguelikes rearing their heads, spirited retro platformers, and sweeping RPGs among the release. There's more too, but you'll have to read on in order to see them all.
Oh, and remember, that if you're looking to check through some of our previous selections then you can always do that at our Games of The Week Hub, it's a great way to find games to fill out that empty storage space on your phone. Or, if you like your news in bitesize chunks, delivered straight to your palm then maybe follow us on our Twitter.
Anyway, without any further delay, click on the big, blue button below to find out more about our top five of the games which released on mobile over the last week.
Endurance
Developer Ivan Panasenko has returned with his next title, and it's an action-packed prequel to his 2019 release Ailment. Endurance has you enduring waves of former shipmates as they are infected and corrupted by a deadly virus that is overwhelming the ship.
As it turns out, it's an absolutely massive ship, and quite generously crewed too. So you'll need to manage your character and equipment in order to save the immune and get to safety from the ship before it is too late.
You can find it, for free, on the App Store and Google Play
Ruinverse
Kemco are back (do they ever go away?) with their latest RPG. Ruinverse follows the story of a young girl with two souls who must head off on a journey riddled with danger. Each soul has different combat abilities, one physical and one more skill-based, however, there are a mass of customization options available through an extensive skill tree system.
While Kemco is certainly known for releasing a lot of RPGs in quick succession, and for the retro stylings that come with them, they always have at least one or two major features which make the game stand out from the other games in their ever-increasing catalogue. In this case, in addition to the skill trees, I'd definitely have to point out that the companions are especially interesting. They're all somewhat incompetent in their previous jobs; a rubbish swindler, a less than intelligent dwarf and a quack physician.
Ruinverse is available on both the AppStore and Google Play right now, it's a premium title.
Slay the Spire
Slay The Spire is finally available on the AppStore, and it's pretty great. I reviewed it on the day that it dropped, where I evangelised about the game and its concept, although reflected that it did suffer from some UI issues.
It's an incredibly important game, and I'm sure that many of you reading through this have played through one of the many, many games which have been released that were inspired by it. If you've not played it yet, especially if you've played one of its peers, then now is the time. It's available as a premium product over on the App Store.
StoneAge World
StoneAge World is a prehistoric MMO which continues the extensive, 20-year old IP, bringing it forward into the modern age.
It's all about taming dinosaurs, with over 250 varieties, and it's designed to be kid-friendly from the ground up. While there's certainly a lot of MMOs out there, it's always good to see more bright, colourful and family-friendly ones entering the marketplace. Also, Dinosaurs are cool.
StoneAge World, as you might expect, is currently free to download on the AppStore and Google Play.
Shadow Frog
Every so often a pixel platformer comes along which offers a little bit more, even if that is just in it feeling extremely balanced and refined. Shadow Frog is the latest to do that. It's a tight platformer which is well paced and manages to feel rewarding as you keep pushing through its short, pure platforming levels. It's the latest game from OddRok, creator of the fantastic Early Worm.
In Shadow Frog you control a little pixel frog as they attempt to collect three keys, dodge their shadow and, well, not die, on a series of thirty succinct levels.
At the low, low price of free, Shadow Frog is definitely a game that you should go and grab on the AppStore right now.
