Category: Mobile Game Releases

The highly anticipated EVE Echoes beta is now live on iOS (via TestFlight) and Android (Via Google Play Early Access) devices. Diving into the vast world of EVE Online can be quite confusing, so we’ve compiled a list of EVE Echoes beta tips, tricks, and frequently asked questions that should help you out. 

How to Sign Up for the EVE Echoes Open Beta

The EVE Echoes open beta was announced this October for iOS and Android devices. The beta is currently available to those in Australia, USA, Canada, Russia, Europe, South Korea, and New Zealand. If you pre-registered for the beta, you should have an email in your inbox instructing you how to download the beta.

If you didn’t pre-register but would still like to participate, you can download EVE Echoes on iOS and Android right now. If you’re using an iOS device, you’ll need to go to main website to join, as it won’t appear in the app store. If you’re using an Android device, simply search the game in the Play Store. 

What’s New in EVE Echoes?

EVE Echoes is pretty similar to that of EVE Online, but it does offer players a few unique features that they won’t find on the PC game. For starters, there will be new storyline missions that players can complete, as well as a new market platform known as the Interstellar Trading Center.

Further, Drones have also been added into the game. Used by all four races, Drones are capable of mining, logistics, and of course, attacking other players. NetEase announced that not only would Drones be available in EVE Echoes, but they would also be playing a different role than they did in EVE Online. 

If you’re new to the game, you don’t really need to worry about Drones right now. Simply focus on figuring out the mechanics as you complete the new pilot tutorial.

Will Progress from the EVE Echoes Beta Carry Over to Launch?

During our time at EVE Vegas in October, we were able to get some hands on time with Echoes ahead of the beta. During one of our meetings with developers, NetEase confirmed that all data from the beta period will be wiped – meaning it won’t be carried over to the full game.

While this may be disappointing for some, the reasoning behind it is pretty straightforward. In the world of EVE, the market is created solely by players. Due to the vast nature of the game, veteran players will have a major upper hand over new players and would be able to dominate the market if all data wasn’t wiped.

To prevent a giant monopoly from happening, wiping all of the data from the beta will allow for a fair and even playing field when it’s time for the official launch of EVE Echoes. 

If You’re new to EVE, Pay Attention During the Tutorial

Perhaps one of our biggest complaints about Echoes during our time with it earlier this year was the lack of a tutorial. It’s nice to see that NetEase and CCP Games listened to some of the feedback we offered and were able to add in a detailed tutorial for ‘new pilots.’ 

If you’re new to EVE, or have been away for a long time, we strongly suggest taking a few minutes to work through the tutorial so that you know how everything works. If at any point you need a refresher, you can revisit the tutorial by tapping the “Intelligent Assistant” on the left side of your screen – it’s a glowing yellow circle. 

Further, we’d also suggest that long time EVE players take the time to go through the Echoes tutorial, as some controls and AI functions are different that EVE Online.

EVE Echoes | How to Purchase a Ship?

Purchasing your first ship in EVE Echoes can be a little confusing, even for veterans of the franchise. If you’re following along with the new pilot tutorial, you’ll be instructed to go to the market and purchase a ship called Slasher. This part isn’t very hard, but figuring out how to obtain your ship is a totally different story.

While you’re purchasing the Slasher, you’ll be prompted to select a destination location. Unfortunately, after you purchase the ship and select a destination, the tutorial gets bugged and won’t deliver your ship. However, developers have stated that if your purchased the Slasher, it’s in the queue to be delivered, but server overloads are causing deliveries to be delayed. 

You can avoid waiting for your ship delivery by going to pick it up, but odds are you’re ship is in Jita – a location that Redditors have warned is filled with bugs that could glitch out your save. So, we don’t suggest traveling to Jita to get your ship.

If your ship is in Jita and hasn’t arrived, it seems you’ll just have to wait a bit for your ship to be delivered. Remember, Echoes is still in the beta and bugs are bound to appear. Developers have released announcements in the Echoes Discord channel acknowledging the Jita and Slasher bugs. They are working on fixes, but note it might take a little bit of time.

EVE Echoes | How to Accept and Begin Missions?

Once you’ve completed the tutorial, if you’d like to accept a new mission, simply click on the Encounters tab and navigate to the News section. From there you should see new missions and quests that you’ll be able to complete. 

However, you might not be able to complete all of the missions right away, as some will require you to purchase items from the Interstellar Trading Center, which may be down due to updates or might not currently have what you need in stock. If you find yourself in this situation, just keep checking back and you’ll likely be able to complete the missions as the beta continues to expand.

Hopefully our EVE Echoes tips and tricks guide has offered some helpful advice to questions that you might have early on in the game. If you have a more detailed question or are encountering a bug, consider visiting r/EveEchoes or the official Echoes Discord channel for more help. 

By Joe Robinson 04 Dec 2019

By Joe Robinson 03 Dec 2019

When Space Grunts released at the start of 2016, we loved it. Tof said in their review that the highest praise they could give was that it was probably going to be a permanent fixture on their phone. While Tof no longer writes for us, I like to think Space Grunts is still being played every so often.

It’s hard then not to be excited by the prospect of Space Grunts 2, the sequel Orangepixel has been working on for the past few years. It’s been in Steam Early Access since September (Pascal Bestebroer has always been vocal about Steam being better for Indies versus mobile), but now that it’s finally released into 1.0, it’s also come to iOS! With any luck, an Android version will turn up at some point too.

Space Grunts 2 is still the turn-based sci-fi roguelite you remember from the first game, only this time there are cards! Every item and weapon you pick up becomes a card for your ‘deck’, and playing them to do actions is fairly quick and seamless, as highlighted by this handy gif:

As for what the rest of the game is like, you’ll have to wait until we’ve done our full review. I’ll be getting someone on this today, so our final verdict should drop early next week. In the meantime, here’s a headline feature list from the press release:

• Mixing a top down roguelike with card-battling
• Unique deck-building system (collecting items on the map)
• Daily challenges (with leaderboards)
• Unlockable modifier cards – changing the flow and rules of the game
• Random events, random modifications
• Procedurally generated levels

Space Grunts 2 is an iOS Universal App and costs $2.99.

Today is all about Black Friday, naturally, so make sure you check out our dedicated post for the latest app deals we’ve spotted. Back in the day when Apple still offered their affiliate scheme this used to be a great day for us, but now it’s less so. Still – public service and all that, and the deals ARE pretty good, so we want to make sure you’re all aware of them.

Apologies it’s been a bit slower on the content front this week – we finally got out Football Manager 2020 review done. It’s unlikely we’ll review the iPad-specific Touch version, in case any of you were wondering. Also, despite having two Apple Arcade Roulette drops in as many weeks, there’s unlikely going to be one next week as I’ve got everyone working on other things. This Arcade thing is still proving a difficult one to tackle in terms of worthwhile coverage, but I hope everyone who is reading our columns is enjoying them.

Meanwhile, thousands of miles away…

Out Now

We’ve struggled to get code in advance of Weekender columns recently, so the below shout-outs aren’t based on any actual play-time, but they’ve appealed to us for specific reasons which we’ll go into.

GRID Autosport

We’re not massively into our racing games here, but we are fans of the work Feral Interactive does in terms of porting games to mobile. Company of Heroes next month is what we’re really looking forward to, but if you’re a fan of GRID Autosport you might be pleased to know that it’s finally made its way over to Android. Check here for a list of supported devices and requirements:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzR-AtEoVR0]

Wanna Survive

Any strategy game with a premium price-tag gets a look in here, and Wanna Survive is exactly that. It’s a stream-lined turn-based tactics game which seems to be more puzzle based than anything else. Movement and actions are simplified, and it’s about making using each character’s turn to maximum effect (i.e, kill as many zombies as possible). It looks interesting enough that I might add it to the review list, although be warned there are IAPs for ‘Coins’, and as yet we don’t know what this means. Available on iOS and Android.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_G1oyTMprY?controls=0]

Little White Rocket

We got an email about this one earlier in the week. It’s a very mellow, one-touch game where you need to guide a rocket through levels while also reading some inspired poetry. Might be a nice change of pace from all of the action-heavy games we’re used to, although this one’s only on iOS.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hN7WGlREG0?controls=0]

There’s also been a new DLC released for Talisman: Origins called The Eternal Conflict that costs £1.99

Updates

Lots of minor updates to various games this week, and of course there’s the big Stardew Valley 1.4 update, but it’s yet to officially hit mobile so we’ll probably cover it in more detail when it does.

Meanwhile DOTA Underlords has received a new update this week that adds a new alliance, and a new quicker gamemode. ‘Knockout’ mode gives players a choice of five pieces to start with, and you’re knocked out when you lose four times. There are other rules like only needing two copies to combine for a four-star, and players level up automatically every other round. Overall matches last about 10 minutes, and Knockout is meant to offer a quicker way to play the game.

Sales

Check our Black Friday 2019 Sales post for all the details on today’s top discounts.

Seen anything else you liked? Played any of the above? Let us know in the comments!

Dear Reader, I confess sometimes I begin to lose heart in the face of Apple Arcade’s full catalogue. Increasingly it reminds me of Netflix: a few high-profile standouts with many safer, color-by-numbers entries to fill out the rest. By and large, the best games are the most heavily featured, but there are still hidden gems, too. Hidden duds, too, but this write-up is precisely to spare you the hazards of blind tries.

A plus in the service’s column remains its ability to surprise and defy expectations, for good or ill. Read below for the gory details.

Rosie’s Reality (Puzzle) (1-Star)

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLmvoegMYKU?controls=0]

This game really grinds my gears. Just like last time with the card battler, a genre near and dear has betrayed my optimism and come up incredibly short. A puzzle game this time around, my genre bias makes me a bit more picky, but this game even outside of the specialist standards is a weaker entry. Let’s start with the upsides: minimal narration is just twee enough to encourage relaxation and playfulness; character design and animation are just as perfect; the music and SFX are excellent. Incredibly cohesive and accessible, but the core gameplay wants to mix action/real-time elements into what is at heart a spatial & pathing puzzle.

Each level, Rosie needs to traverse a path by following blocks and avoiding adversaries and obstacles. The levels themselves are quite reliable, neither too vexing nor lenient, but they are all timed. Rather than incentivizing economical solutions, you get up to three stars based on the speed a level is cleared. The cardinal sin is how puzzles can be solved by simply clicking quickly, since blocks can be deleted and relocated halfway through a path. The building materials aren’t exhaustible, in other words. The mixture of time-based and classic puzzle solving diminishes both halves of the game. It’s easy and pleasant but fell flat almost right out of the gate.

Pilgrims (Adventure) (4-Stars)

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxHrjrpE4dg?controls=0]

Amanita games feel like elaborate storybooks brought to life. Painterly details, an emphatic musical score, character sounds full of onomatopoeia and colorful mutterings. They structured it as an adventure with a card-based inventory, too, which is a little on-trend but still tastefully done. Every item and interaction in the game begins and ends with playing a card, thereby summoning the depicted item and triggering some interaction. It is reminiscent of a classic point-and-click style adventure but has been deliberately miniaturised.

This only intensifies the cute factor. Some story obstacles are overcome with Occam’s Razor, others are devilishly convoluted. Generally speaking, though, any puzzles can be teased out with logic and experimentation. This is a relatively bite-sized forgiving game that can be completed in one long sitting and is worth it for the atmosphere and Eastern European style humor.

The Bradwell Conspiracy (Narrative/Puzzle) (5-Stars)

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DA7Hdyfafs?controls=0]

Now this is a great puzzle game. You wake up and try to escape a museum devoted in part to the Bradwells a family of renown for their pioneering achievements. Not to spoil things any further, but this one is eerie and personal, even as it makes rhetorical gestures towards larger themes about freedom, intellectual curiosity and technological solutionism. It is quite simply a very good game where the narrative and puzzle design march in perfect synchronisation towards a well-defined ending.

It is a tad short and the controls are a tad wonky, but these are minor complaints to lay at the feet of a quality release. As a side-note, there are quite a few games like this one on Apple Arcade, and what they generally have in common is that they’ve been in development a good while and have released on multiple platforms (several consoles, but exclusively only Apple Arcade for mobile).

Yaga (RPG) (3-Stars)

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qcs3Log4lGA?controls=0]

An action-rpg in which so many characters have been cursed to speak exclusively in rhyme. Named for Baba Yaga, the mysterious and menacing crone of Slavic folklore, the game begins in tale by cribbing liberally from Dornröschen (Sleeping Beauty). A petty and corrupt king is promised mystical vengeance by a lady, and he does everything in its power to thwart the curse. You’re just a poor one-armed blacksmith running quests to try to improve your fortune.

Apparently you have the world’s most rotten luck, and in the course of these quests will grow stronger and luckier and win the favor of the king and Baba Yaga alike. It’s got crafting, characters and progression. Really nice balancing and customisation options. The visuals are a little rough around the edges, but the voice acting is richly theatrical. Decent but missable. Points for novel, rarely utilized mythology.

The Enchanted World (Puzzle) (4-Stars)

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qisFRUVTzl4?controls=0]

This is definitely a sleeper hit for puzzle fans. The whole natural world is magically active and resonant, so when corruption strikes and throws the environment off-balance, a young woman sets out to make things right. It’s about moving tiles, guys, but very prettily. The pleasing and bucolic setting might lull you into a false sense of security, though, for this game after just a little while gets just challenging enough to stay compelling. Its levels are short and punchy but also refreshing and inventive, with new mechanics being skillfully introduced early on.

From a pure puzzling perspective, I’d rate it even more highly than the Go series (Hitman, Lara Croft, Deus Ex). It’s about comparable in length, in terms of playtime if not raw content. The mechanic interactions are quite diverse and thoughtful, and while the core challenge is always straightforward (‘make a path’) it is constantly re-interpreted and thus always interesting. Accessible and high-quality, the best of both worlds.

—————

All in all, this batch was better than I was expecting. The way things currently stand, it seems like Apple Arcade is lousy with medium-weight puzzle- and narrative- heavy games, each with plenty of visual polish but somewhat well-worn gameplay grooves. Still there are some really slick and innovative entries, even outside of the big players. Even the average stuff is closer to a formulaic summer blockbuster, to put it in filmic terms, than an actual dud.

Because of the nature of the games and the service’s billing structure, Apple Arcade paradoxically rewards the periodic check-in and binge. The roulette-style approach is really nice; it removes the anxiety of selecting the ‘best’ and lets players trust their own judgement. The spirit of the age is full of expert recommendations and daedal algorithms, but I can tell you, one player to another, the arcade also rewards this roulette, of letting your attention wander and merely playing whatever, whenever.

Apparently, one regular-as-clockwork yearly update to the Football Manager franchise is not enough, which means that prospective managers now have three different flavours to choose from. The fully-fledged version is the Old Trafford of football management games, it may not be the newest, but it is still the biggest and the most renowned.

The tablet-tailored Touch version is more like the London Stadium, flashy and new it might be, but it lacks a sense of history and ownership. This leaves the Mobile variant, which was first introduced on the PlayStation Portable back in 2006, before making its debut on IOS in 2010. This is more like Bournemouth’s Dean Court ground, a tight and compact design that, not so long ago, was completely reoriented to make the most of the limited space available.

Space is definitely at a premium when trying to squeeze Football Manager onto mobile devices. Not so much space in terms of memory (although the game does take up a hefty 2 GB) but space in terms of screen size. Football Manager spits out more stats than the most motor mouthed of American sports commentators and sees more menus being presented than on the busiest day at Waiter Training School. A nip here and a tuck there is certainly essential, but does this extensive surgery leave behind a game that flatters to deceive?

Initial impressions are promising, with an expansive range of set up options on offer. You can create your own club or embark on a thirty-year career at a team of your choice. There is also a challenge mode, which features seven scenarios that thrust you directly into the heart of the action. You may find yourself in a relegation battle, dealing with an injury crisis or maintaining an unbeaten run. Finally, you set your manager’s reputation which reflects the difficulty level, it will be much easier to entice star players if you are a household name rather than unknown.

It makes more sense to highlight the new features rather than to dwell on the familiar core gameplay. The addition of Danish and Greek leagues means that the mobile version now boasts over 60 leagues, spanning 21 nations. This may be a far cry from the 116 leagues and 52 countries of the fully-fledged version, but it still offers more than enough choice for most would-be managers. The upgraded youth development system ensures that you now have more information on the progress of your youngsters before they are snatched away for a pittance by bigger clubs. You can even ask a seasoned pro to take an impressionable youngster under their wing and mentor them. Hopefully, this will not lead to them getting involved in stealing taxis or drunken road accidents.

Other additions include a reserve team that presents the opportunity to get your young players playing at a higher level or improve the fitness of seniors that are recovering from injury or loss of form. There are also call ups to under 21 national teams and more options for dealing with media reports. Finally, derby games have been introduced, adding some extra passion and rancour to matches against your nearby neighbours. To sum up, not really bursting with new features or ideas, and there is always the feeling that ideas are always being held back to help justify next year’s release.

There are advantages to being leaner and meaner, foremost is that the mobile version plays much faster. So, if you want a life outside of your virtual management responsibilities then this may be the way to go. The downside is that tactical options feel limited and the no-frills highlights do little to disguise the fact that this is just an exercise in juggling numbers. The user interface may have been updated but it is still far from perfect. There is a labyrinth of information to wade through that can make even relatively simple actions such as nominating a captain or even seeing the latest league table more cumbersome than it should be.

Many screens allow you to swipe left and right to bring up pages with yet more in-depth information. Unfortunately, it is all too easy to accidentally select something rather than swipe it, which can take you to a completely different set of screens. The sense of information overload is also prevalent in the transfer market. Trawling through players can feel like finding a needle in a haystack, but there is a real sense of satisfaction when you discover a hidden gem.

Despite the game’s premium price, there are still additional unlockables and challenges that can be acquired. The most expensive of these is the database editor, this may allow you to play God, but it costs as much as the game itself. Some unlockables have to be earnt through your endeavours, for instance, you can remove all transfer windows by making a huge transfer profit. Others can also be bought with real-world money, such as acquiring a sugar daddy chairman and other equally depressing money-grabbing ways to cheat your way to the top. Maybe this is all a satire on the underhand wrangling and financial unfair play rules that plague the modern game?

The developer’s preference for drip-feeding new ideas means that there is not really enough new content to recommend this if you already have last year’s version. Unless you are the sort of person who simply has to have their favourite club’s first, second and third strips on the day of release. The game is still a little buggy, but the programmers seem to be very responsive when it comes to resolving problems. Licensing issues may annoy perfectionists; England fans will breathe a sigh of relief on discovering that the German national team is missing, but Juventus fans will be cross to discover that their beloved team has been renamed Zebra.

By Joe Robinson 26 Nov 2019

It’s that time of year again – the time of crazy deals, stupendous sales, and apparently something to do with Thanksgiving. As a Brit I don’t really understand that last part, but luckily the ‘cheap’ part of Black Friday has invaded the UK like a hostile virus, so we get to benefit from another sales event.

It makes Christmas shopping easier, that’s for sure.

Black Friday 2019 App Deals

We’re going to update this list as we go, but here are some of our favourite app sales currently running for Black Friday:

Remember, since Apple stopped their affiliate scheme (Google’s never had one) we don’t get any money for recommending these to you.

Black Friday 2019 Hardware

It’s not something we really look at here on PT, but Hardware’s just as important to mobile gamers as consoles and PC parts are to our brethren in the rest of the gaming industry – we often have to pay a lot more! As an experiment this year, I’m going to list any hardware deals (probably tablets) I spot that seem good, or at least note-worthy.

I’ll probably end up sending you to Amazon a lot, since we’re affiliated and get some money if you buy.

I’m not going to lie, it’s been a bit of a slow week from where I’m sitting. I’ve compensated for it as best I can, but there’s also not been as much to talk about news-wise that I wasn’t thinking of saving for today’s column. A couple of things are a bit late, which you’ll read about below, and people don’t seem to be as keen about reading Apple Arcade stuff as I thought they’d be.

Maybe TouchArcade has the right idea of doing individual game reviews instead, I’m not sure. I also can’t stop playing Hearthstone Battlegrounds, and it scares me.

Meanwhile, in the world of mobile games….

Out Now

Civilization 6: Gathering Storm (iPad)

So, that happened. Without any fanfare or warning, the second major expansion for Civilization 6 is now available on iPad as an iAP. It costs a ridiculous $39.99 to buy full price. 2K/Firaxis’ pricing strategy with Civ 6 has been a bit bonkers on both PC and Mobile, so this is par for the course.

In more promising news, however, the IAP unlock for the full base game is down to £4.99, with the Rise & Fall expansion is down to its lowest ever price of £14.99. $40 is a big ask for any game expansion, regardless of platform, but if you haven’t jumped onto the mobile Civ 6 bandwagon yet $5 is a very good price for a game that will give you many hours of entertainment.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZ8XRJNitCE]

Football Manager 2020 Mobile & Touch

Earlier in the week was this year’s edition of Football Manager. Football Manager 2020 comes in two forms, as is traditional:

• Football Manager 2020 Mobile (iOS | Android) which is a streamlined version of the game for phones and tablets.
• Football Manager 2020 Touch (iPad | Android) which is the PC version ported for use on a tablet device.

This year seems to be more about refinements and improving on features added in the 2019 version than about adding in brand new features, although overhauls around Media interactions and changes to how reserve and youth teams work have been included. Our review of 2020 Mobile should be dropping next week.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mB2MppIgQ24]

Updates & News

Acram Digital’s port of legacy board game Charterstone is getting a beta. This will be running across PC and Mobile, and you can go here if you want to sign-up and participate. It feels like something’s gone wrong with mobile board games recently, so it’s nice to see companies still working on mobile ports.

The Minecraft Earth Early Access is also now available in the following countries: Japan, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, and Switzerland. In other ME news, the Sensor Tower is reporting that since the roll-out started on November 12th, the game has been downloaded 1.4 million times. 1.2 Million (or just over 86%) are from the US. 73% of those downloads are on iOS.

Last and most definitely least, I’m going to talk about Merge Dragons briefly. It’s mainly for my wife’s sake, but I’m also stopping and taking a moment to wonder at how… creative… companies can get sometimes when it comes to cross-promotion. I’ll give you three guesses as to which currently popular cult phenomenon is having a crossover event with Merge Dragons:

Rick & Morty.

Sales

Black Friday is next week so expect a lot more sales to appear then, but here’s a few discount deals you might be interested in (we haven’t included the Civ 6 stuff as we talk about that above):

• Playdek’s re-release of Fluxx Digital, while not the best port in the world, is still worth checking out if you’re looking for a new party-focused card game. It’s down to $0.99 on iOS and Android.
• One of our favourite minimalist puzzle games, Mini Metro, is discounted for the first time this year and is down to $0.99, the best price since December 2017. It’s successor is one of our favourite Apple Arcade games, but if you’ve yet to try this out you really should.
• The first Beholder game is down to $2.99 again.

Seen anything else you liked? Played any of the above? Let us know in the comments!