Produced alongside our friends at PocketGamer.fun – THE place to discover your next favourite mobile games – here’s our pick of the best fresh-this-week titles.
While the deals and the stats of the gaming world are important, nothing would happen without the research, funding and, of course, development that goes into making a great game. PocketGamer.fun brings you latest games, lets you see them in action and download right from the page.
So here are the most exciting new mobile games right now, the developers and publishers behind them, and why, exactly, they’ve made the cut.
Star Wars: Hunters
Zynga’s long-awaited Star Wars: Hunters is finally out, three years later than planned but with plenty more content as a result. The game actually spent six years in development, and after being lost in space for some time, this multiplayer title finally brings the intergalactic Star Wars franchise to mobile and Nintendo Switch in cross-platform hero shooter fashion.
In fact, Hunters represents an important moment for Zynga, as the company’s first title developed for the Switch in an attempt to broaden horizons; meanwhile, for Star Wars, this game was the second revealed to be using the brand after EA’s exclusivity deal came to an end. And not only does Hunters use the Star Wars brand – it’s canon, too. NaturalMotion worked with Lucasfilm Games to ensure the game is true to the films, with Hunters taking place after Episode Six.
As for the gameplay, Hunters is a chaotic 4v4 multiplayer title with battles in iconic series locales, plenty of characters to choose from, and roles to take on like Support, Tank, and Damage classes depending on each player’s preference. There are multiple game modes with varying objectives like capture-the-flag type challenges, taking control of certain areas, elimination challenges and more.
Mariachis And Dwarfs
Combining strategy, simulation, adventure, and idle genres, DrakkarTi’s Mariachis and Dwarfs gives micromanagement fans plenty to organise. Most crucially, players are tasked with managing blacksmith dwarfs and mariachis as they work inside a mine, forging items and building a prosperous kingdom.
Of course, any prosperous kingdom must come at the cost of another, so forging is really just the beginning. From there, players can invade and conquer other territories, all to gain even more materials and forge all over again.
Conquest doesn’t have to be stressful though, or even high commitment; Android players can rely on the idle aspect and focus on the musical mariachis if they prefer, while iOS users can only sit and listen in from the sidelines.
Everbound
RPG roguelike Everbound is full to bursting with pixel art graphics and turn-based strategy. There’s armour to collect, weapons to master, items to play around with, and six bosses to overcome.
The iOS exclusive comes from solo developer Andre K Pham who has designed Everbound’s bosses to demand players’ strategic thinking. Overcoming them will require a well-planed approach and plenty of resource collection from firearms to potions.
Matching the boss total, there are six classes to choose from and all are available from the get-go. Not only that, but Everbound is available at no cost whatsoever, with no in-game monetisation either. There’s an iPad version in development too.
Omega Knockout
Another retro-style title, this time landing on iOS and Android, Omega Knockout is the latest arcade punch-up with fistfuls of nostalgia and plenty of techniques to master. With 10 boxing tournaments to sweep and super-duper special moves to discover, Pixel Dynamite’s latest game requires players to time their lefts and rights, jabs and evades, and box their way to the top.
Retro music and “epic next-gen 16-bit battles” provide an authentic arcade feel, created through “many early mornings and countless cups of coffee”. Two years’ worth, in fact. It’s really Pixel Dynamite’s love letter to the arcade age, and the Columbia-based indie studio’s very first mobile game.
Veilrunner: Arcane Frontiers
Out in early access on Android in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, Veilrunner: Arcane Frontiers is a blending of MMO and strategy genres set in the continent of Varia. Magic is an essential component of the land and adventurers known as Veilrunners aim to seek out the strongest zones, but while there may be powerful artifacts to find, there are also perilous dangers: a mystical energy corrupts everything it touches.
Californian studio Machine Zone is currently testing the Veilrunner: Arcane Frontiers in Southeast Asia, giving players an early look at the heroes, the monsters, the land, and of course the MMORPG gameplay.
The company previously worked with Square Enix on multiple Final Fantasy projects, namely Final Fantasy XV: War For Eos and Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire.
PocketGamer.fun – Your Guide to Instant Entertainment
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