Category: Game Releases

New game releases.

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Google Play Pass launches this week in the wake of Apple Arcade

By Joe Robinson 24 Sep 2019

It’s been no secret that Google has been working on their own subscription service, for all the attention Apple Arcade has been getting. I don’t think anyone was expecting it to launch quite so quickly after Apple’s own service but here we are – say hello to Google Play Pass.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNl21sqNCFs?controls=0]

It’s going to be landing in the US this week, and will have 350 games and apps available to use. The base price is $4.99 but for a limited time you can get a 10-day free trial plus your first 12 months for $1.99 a month, which is a pretty decent launch offer. You have until October 10th to take advantage of it.

We don’t have a complete list of games that’ll be available yet, although more will get added every month apparently. Not everything will be brand-new or ‘bespoke’ for GPP – a lot of games will have been out for a while. You may even own some already as the trailer shows games like Stardew Valley, Reigns: Games of Thrones and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.

The main selling point of the Play Pass is that games featured via this platform won’t have any ads or IAPS. Existing games that have these and go on Play Pass will simply have them removed or disabled.

That’s all we know right now – we’ll let you know more (including any news regarding International roll-out) as soon as we can.

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Apple Arcade Game List – Every Game Available via the Apple Arcade Subscription

By Admin 23 Sep 2019

Apple Arcade has officially released, and for $4.99 you can get instant access to a wide range of premium games, many of which potentially wouldn’t have been released otherwise. Apple’s boasted that their launch line-up is 100-games strong. With this many titles on offer, it can be difficult to get a good read on what is actually available. We’ve got a more curated list of ‘top’ Arcade picks in the works, but as a test I thought I’d publish a simpler ‘master’ list of all of the games currently on the platform, as well as a quick note on genre.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RI0dWy1CVfw?controls=0]

Let me know if you find this useful or not, and if you have any suggestions on what might be more helpful. Most of the games we’ve sampled to far have their own dedicated App Store entry we can considering linking too at a later date, for example.

So, without further ado, here is the complete list of games currently available on Apple Arcade:

  • Agent Intercept (Action/Driving)
  • The Artful Escape (Action/Platform)
  • Assemble with Care (Puzzle)
  • Atone: Heart of the ElderTree (RPG)
  • Ballistic Baseball (Action/Sports)
  • Battle Sky Brigade: Harpooner (Action)
  • Beyond Blue (Action/Exploration)
  • Beyond a Steel Sky (RPG)
  • Big TimeSports (Action/Sports)
  • Bleak Sword (Action)
  • Box Project (Simulation)
  • The Bradwell Conspiracy (Action/RPG)
  • Card of Darkness (Puzzle)
  • Cardpocalypse (Puzzle)
  • Cat Quest 2 (RPG)
  • ChuChuRocket (Action/Puzzle)
  • Cricket through the Ages (Action/Sports)
  • Dead End Job (Action)
  • Dear Reader (Puzzle)
  • Dodo Peak (Action)
  • Don’t Bug Me (Tower Defense)
  • Doomsday Vault (Exploration/Action)
  • Down in Bermuda (Exploration/Action)
  • Dread Nautical (Strategy)
  • Earth Night (Action)
  • The Enchanted World (Puzzle)
  • Enter the Construct (Action/Shooter)
  • Exit the Gungeon (Action/Platformer)
  • Explottens (Action/Side-Scroller)
  • Fantasian (RPG)
  • A Fold Apart (Puzzle)
  • Frogger In Toy Town (Action)
  • The Get out Kids (Exploration/Puzzle)
  • Grindstone (Puzzle)
  • Hexaflip (Puzzle)
  • Hitchhiker (Exploration/Narrative)
  • Hot Lava (Action)
  • InMost (Action/Platformer)
  • Jenny LeClue (Puzzle/Narrative)
  • King’s League 2 (Tactics/Action)
  • Kings of the Castle (Puzzle)
  • Lego Arthouse (Exploration/Narrative)
  • Lego Brawls (Action/Brawler)
  • Lifelike (Exploration)
  • Lifeslide (Exploration/Narrative)
  • Little Orpheus (Puzzle)
  • Mini Motorways (Puzzle)
  • Monomals (Puzzle/Action)
  • Manifold (Garden Exploration)
  • Mosaic (Exploration/Narrative)
  • Murder Mystery (Machine Puzzle)
  • Mutazione (Puzzle/Narrative)
  • Neo Cab (Exploration/Narrative)
  • No Way Home (Exploration)
  • Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the Lost Realm (Action/RPG)
  • Operator 41 (Tactics/Action)
  • Outlanders (Simulation/Exploration)
  • Over the Alps (Action/Exploration)
  • Overland (Strategy/Exploration)
  • Pac-Man Party Royale (Action)
  • The Pathless (Action)
  • Patterned (Puzzle)
  • Possessions (Puzzle)
  • Pinball Wizard (Action)
  • Projection: First Light (Puzzle/Narrative)
  • Proxi (Simulation/Exploration)
  • Punch (Planet Action/Fighter)
  • Rayman Mini (Action/Platformer)
  • Red Reign (Action)
  • Redout: Space Assault (Action/Racing)
  • Sayonara Wild Hearts (Action)
  • Shantae and the Seven Sirens (Action/Exploration)
  • Shinsekai Deep Sea (Action/Side Scroller)
  • Shock Rods (Action/Shooter)
  • Skate City (Action)
  • Sneaky Sasquatch (Action)
  • Sonic Racing (Action/Racing)
  • Spaceland (Tactics)
  • Speed Demons (Action/Racing)
  • Spek (Puzzle)
  • Spelldrifter (Tactics)
  • Spidersaurs (Action/Shooter)
  • Spyder (Action/Exploration)
  • Stellar Commanders (Strategy)
  • Steven Universe: Unleash the Light (RPG)
  • Stranded Sales (Exploration/Survival)
  • Super Impossible Road (Action/Racing)
  • TangleTower (RPG)
  • Tint (Puzzle)
  • Towaga: Among Shadows Action
  • UFO on Tape: First Contact (Action)
  • Various Daylife (RPG)
  • Way of the Turtle (Action/Platformer)
  • What the Golf? (Puzzle/Simulation)
  • Where Cards Fall (Puzzle/Narrative)
  • Winding Worlds (Puzzle/Exploration)
  • Word Laces (Puzzle)

Games Listed but not available yet:

  • Yaga (RPG)
  • Decoherence (Action/Strategy)

It seems not every game on the list we found that are coming to Apple Arcade are available yet. Apologies for the confusion. We will try and get to the bottom of what is and isn’t available and update the list accordingly. 

We’re going to keep this list update as we hear about new games coming (or even going?) from the platform but if you spot anything we’ve missed, let us know in the comments!

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Pixel Game Maker MV released

After more than a year when it was first released in early access, Pixel Game Maker MV has finally released on Steam.  Pixel Game Maker MV is designed to create 2D games in both a top down and side scrolling perspective.  It provides all of the tools you need to create a game, as well as a ton of completed examples to learn from.

Pixel Game Maker MV is described as follows on Steam (where it is currently on sale):

Pixel Game Maker MV allows you to build up your own action game with no programming knowledge necessary. This engine was designed with the idea of giving a voice to people’s passions, allowing them to freely express the game that they have held in their hearts. Create the game that you want to play now!

Using only six tools, you can create the game of your dreams!

  1. Resources – Prepare and arrange image assets required for your game
  2. Tiles – Create “tiles” necessary for map field creation
  3. Objects – Provide characters and items with various gimmicks
  4. Animation – Enliven and enrich your graphics
  5. Scenes – Build stages using tiles and objects
  6. Transition – Connect scenes to bring your games into shape

Key Features:


An Easy to Use Visual Scripting System – No Programming Necessary
Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned developer, Pixel Game Maker MV offers a flexible game creation system, allowing you to plan, create and build an exciting game using the intuitive visual scripting system.
4 Player Support Straight Out of the Box
You can build your own multiplayer games with Pixel Game Maker MV without any additional programming or plugins needed. Create cooperative or competitive local play between up to four players.
Customize your game further with JavaScript
Pixel Game Maker MV supports the use of JavaScript to create plug-ins and perform actions not available in the Visual Scripting system. This allows you to create and customize your game without restriction.
Create Endless Fun with “Multi-Viewpoint/Multi-Versus”
Allows for both top- and side-based views, combine this with the multiplayer function to bring your game to a whole new level. Works with any genre, so the games you can create are limited only by your imagination!
A Simple Way to Create Rich and Beautiful Game Graphics
Using the graphic import feature, physics engine, particle effects, and multiple layer combination, you can create your own ideal game in exactly the way you want to make it, easily and without all the hassle.
Allows for Functional Expansion
You can use JavaScript to expand on and add to the pre-existing features. Master using these extended functions and add-ons to create even more complex and beautiful games!

When we first look at Pixel Game Maker MV, we were not impressed.  We took another look at it in the video below if you want to learn more about this release.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91u0s1HDoxQ&w=853&h=480]

GameDev News

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The Weekender: Let’s go to the Arcade Edition

Coming back from a holiday is always a bit of whirlwind of catch-up and trying to make sense of what happened while I was away. Turned out Apple Arcade happened, so now we have a whole new thing to look at and see what it brings to our favourite hobby. As essentially a friendlier home for premium games, I hoping we’ll see more of the games we really want flock back to iOS… although I know many have separate reservations about subscription models in general.

Since I wasn’t back until Wednesday the first half of the week was still being ‘covered’, which is why we had a couple of older list refreshes we hadn’t seen in a while and some news. The later half of the week was rounding off some gaps I wanted to fill. Mario Kart Tour is coming and we haven’t really talked about it much until this week, and then there was the Talisman DLC we missed out on from the end of August. Finally, I’m kinda digging Pokemon Masters at the moment, so you’ll see me doing stuff there.

Meanwhile, in mobile gaming…

Apple Arcade

The biggest news this week doesn’t have anything to do with a single game, but many. Apple’s new premium subscription service Apple Arcade. It’s now been released into the wild where you can get access to a wide range of games for just $4.99 usd a month. Apple have around 100 games already in place for launch, and we imagine more will come. I might even need to add a new section to this column covering new Apple Arcade releases.

I’ve got Michael working on a new guide that’ll sift through some of the Arcade’s more desirable releases, but right off the bat you can get access to the likes of MiniMotorways (Mini Metro sequel), Cat Quest 2, Beyond a Steel Sky and Cardpocalypse, to name but a few.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frLeePH8W9Y?controls=0]

iOS 13

We thought we’d also remind our iOS users of a bit of tech related news – iOS13 has also dropped. Anyone with an iPhone 6S or iPhone SE or newer phone will be able to get it.

Updates for GameCenter, the ability to use console controllers, Dark mode and more are part of the update, so make sure you have a poke around when you can to see what’s new. For the first time, this update is NOT being rolled out to iPads. Apple tablet devices are getting their own bespoke OS called ‘iPadOS’ which will have dedicated features – that’s due to drop at the end of the month on September 30th.

New Game App Releases

We’re a little behind catching up on new game releases this week, so while there are a few things worth highlighting I haven’t had a chance to take any of them for a spin or do a top-line overview. Still, these are the ones you should be interested in, and we’ll endeavour to get full reviews and/or in depth articles as soon as we can:

  • Through the Ages first expansion, Leaders & Wonders, is now available as an IAP on both Android and iOS for $4.99
  • This is the Police 2 launched on iOS and Android while I was away. While we weren’t as impressed with the first title, we’re hoping this sequel has stepped up it’s game. You can pick it up for $6.99 and we’ll have our full review done ASAP
  • Other games that have caught our eye this week are rogue-like dungeon crawler Undervault, and free-to-play card game Mythgard which has entered open beta.

Elsewhere, Football Drama is a soccer management game that darks a rather satirical take on managing a football team in modern times. It’s a more narrative driven experience, but actually involves both deck-building and turn-based tactical mechanics, so we’re very intrigued. It’s available on iOS and Android for $4.99 and is on our review list.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQr5Zww5DZU?controls=0]

Updates & Sales

Rebel Inc. has received it’s fourth major update since launch, titled the ‘Azure Dam’ Expansion. It adds a new map (Azure Dam), a new Governor called the Development Director as well as a new mechanic that allows you to collect intel on specific regions to see if they’d like to see certain improvements rolled out to them.

Add on top of that the usual round of bug fixes and balancing, and this is a nice meaty update to get you back involved. The team have also said they’re not done with the game yet, and they’ll be plenty more content down the road.

We’ve missed quite a few sales and there doesn’t seem to be anything especially noteworthy this week. Nothing you haven’t seen before anyway, although I’m pleased to report an Android-specific discount, for once, as Rusted Warfare RTS is down to $0.99 on Android.

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

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Massive AppGameKit Sale On Fanatical

There is currently an AppGameKit Bundle over on Fanatical, an opportunity to pick up this seminal game engine and a ton of content for an extremely low price.

The bundle is composed of 3 different tiers ( each higher level tier contains all of the lower tiers content as well ), broken down as follows:

Tier 1 (@ 5$ USD):

  • AppGameKit Classic Game Engine
  • Games Pack 1
  • Games Pack 2
  • 3D Asset Pack

Tier 2 (@ 10 USD):

  • Tier 1 +
  • Giant Asset Pack 1
  • Giant Asset Pack 2
  • Sound Library
  • Shader Pack

Tier 3(@ 20USD):

  • Tier 1 & 2 +
  • GameGuru Loader

I have covered AppGameKIt in the past including this closer look review, this video on AR in AppGameKit and this tutorial/introduction to AppGameKit Studio.  I also previously did this video on GameGuru if you are interested in learning more about the Loader included in the third tier.  You can learn more about this deal in the video below.  Using the above link from Fanatical also helps support GFS with each purchase, so thanks if you do so!

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuLYeXGEEek&w=853&h=480]

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Bitmelo Pixel Based Game Engine

Today we are looking at Bitmelo, a free and open source browser based game engine for creating simple pixel art games.  It contains all of the tools you need to create a complete game including a graphics editor, map editor, sound creator and programming environment, all in one place.

Bitmelo is described as follows:

Bitmelo is a game editor and engine for making small pixel art games right here in your browser.
This editor has everything you need to develop a game in one convenient location.
You can code, draw tiles and tilemaps, design sound effects, view the documentation,
and playtest your game, all without having to break focus by switching applications.
Once complete you can then export your game as a single HTML file.

Bitmelo is currently in early access. Right now it has everything you need to make a minimal game,
however many more features are planned for the future.

The underlying JavaScript game engine is available on GitHub under the MIT license, while the editor is available in a different GitHub repository under a different license, described as such:

The Bitmelo editor is licensed using a source available license. This license
allows you to download the source for personal use, but does not allow you to
distribute it to third parties. In addition, three years after the
release of each version of the editor, that version is dual licensed to
use the GNU Affero General Public License.

In addition to being able to run it directly in your browser, you can also download the editor as an Electron application on Itch.io.  Learn more about Bitmelo and see it in action in the video below.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Atist4GiWnE&w=853&h=480]

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