The Wrapp - Platypus roguelikes, shotgunning chess pieces, and cosy cats

It's a Friday evening, so do you know what that means? What? No. I meant it's time for the Wrapp. Obviously. Honestly, the places your mind goes sometimes. It's unnerving. Anyway, it's time for the PG team to share their weekend gaming plans. Iwan is digging into some Kemco releases while Cat is cosying up to some felines. Elsewhere, Jupiter is doing what Jupiter does best - Pokémon Go - and Shaun is channelling his inner JJ McCarthy... His standards are apparently not high.

Iwan Morris

Staff Writer

So, weirdly enough, this week I’ve been getting sort of into JRPGs. This is mainly because the Japanese-only TTRPG Sword World is finally getting an official English translation. So I’ve been hunting around for some of the Kemco releases, although I doubt any will get past my inherent opposition to grinding.

Aside from that, it’s business as usual on my end, with Vampire Survivors and Balatro on constant rotation. Although I have been dipping into Shotgun King…

And let me tell you, I didn’t expect a game about shooting chess pieces with a shotgun to have as surprisingly dark a tone as it does. There is still some awkwardness to it, the ‘swipe to shoot’ controls, for example, can be a bit janky, but overall it’s proving to be quite an interesting play.

Will Quick

Freelance Writer

Ever since the whole Capybara craze that seemed to dominate a large chunk of last year and now just lingers, I've started to wonder: What other animals are ready for the mobile stage? Cats will always be around, dogs are not nearly as popular as they could be, and there's always something going on involving chickens or ducks. But I did wonder about one of my favourite animals: the platypus. Are there any recent games with cool platypus characters to play?

Turns out, yes. Yes, there are. One that has appeared to me while browsing the marketplace is PlatyGuard: Swarm Slayer. It seems that these platypusses (platypi?) need my help, and I'm not gonna let them down!

Toni Oisin H.C.

Freelance Writer

Despite the fact that my real-life house is a mess, I’ve decided to shift my attention to something more important: my virtual home in the new life sim My Leisure Time. As is par for the course for me, I was immediately won over by its adorable art style, and now I can’t put it down. I just want all of the tiny pieces of furniture, and I want them yesterday.

Catherine Dellosa

Reviews Editor

I’m returning to my long-time love this weekend! As I have been in a constant state of omnipresent stress lately, I will be cowering in a corner with Neko Atsume 2 as my weapon of self-preservation. There’s nothing more soothing to the soul than looking after a bunch of derpy-yet-adorable cats in my virtual backyard. If they can live their best lives just stuffing themselves inside cardboard boxes, perhaps I can too?

Dann Sullivan

Editor in Chief

It’s no secret to friends of mine that Meowth is my favourite Pokémon (don’t worry, there won’t be a quiz at the end), and so I was very pleasantly surprised to find that they’re included in the newest expansion to hit Pokémon TCG Pocket. They’ve made some changes to the battle system and added a couple more solo challenges, so I’ll be spending some time on that.

Outside of mobile, I’ll be tinkering with the 100FRIENDS and Warhounds playtests. The former is a brick-breaker roguelike with cool characters and ridiculous multipliers, while the latter is a spec-ops twist on the modern XCOM (and Jagged Alliance 3) formula. Both feel like great fits for mobile, but… time will tell.

Jupiter Hadley

Staff Writer

It’s a weekend of Pokémon for me, once again. There are a bunch of Dynamax Ho-oh battles this weekend, which are always a challenge as only four people can be in each battle. I will be carried by a team, I hope! It’s also a community day in Pokémon Go, so I will likely be out for that as well. It’s a simple weekend, but a good one for Pokémon fans.

Shaun Walton

Staff Writer

I was having a conversation with Stephen the other day, wherein he mentioned that Retro Bowl has received a few updates since we last played. If you aren’t acquainted, it is a very simple, yet incredibly fun take on American Football. Since I am incredibly easily led with games, this conversation has set off a burning desire to pick Retro Bowl up again and try out these reported upgrades it has received, so that will be my plan for this weekend.

Stephen Gregson-Wood

Deputy Editor

Since last Friday, I have been struck down with some weird flu/bug/cold thing. I am one of the worst people to get ill since I invariably act as if the world is ending. Because mine is, as far as I'm concerned. There isn't a segue into what I'm playing this weekend from that. I just wanted to complain. Please, give me no sympathy. I don't deserve any. I merely wanted my grievances registered in a weekly feature on a mobile gaming website, as life intended.

This weekend I'm going to check out Vohenn. A Metroidvania designed entirely with mobile in mind is an intriguing prospect and one that Jupiter believes the developers have pulled off. So, I'm looking forward to giving that a go. It's been a while since I've dabbled in the genre, and I have been developing a hankering for it in recent months.