August 3rd 2023.
August is an exciting month for mobile gaming with the release of Supercell's new game, Clash Mini, alongside Roto Force, Spaceplan, and the return of the classic game, Return to Monkey Island.
Ridiculous Fishing EX is a must-have app available with an Apple Arcade subscription. This multi-stage game starts with avoiding fish by tilting your phone as your tackle descends towards the ocean floor. On the ascent, you try to hook as many fish as you can while avoiding jellyfish. The remake adds improved visuals, new sea creatures, and more fishing power-ups at the shop, plus a Pro Tour with a sizeable chunk of progression to work on once you’ve fished all the species from the other regions.
Luck Be A Landlord is an offbeat game available for iOS and Android for £4.99. You pay the rent each month with a steadily evolving slot machine. After each spin, you can add a new symbol, and each icon triggers secondary interactions with their neighbours, which get more complex as you populate it with more symbols. The ambient trance music makes it easy to slip into the zone and not realize an hour has passed.
Spaceplan, originally released in 2017, has received an update that rebuilds the game from the ground up. It's an incremental game with a plot and an ending, and despite its complexity, you'll reach the end after only a couple of hours. Its idle gameplay is engaging and its wilful misunderstanding of Stephen Hawking’s ideas, along with a peculiar obsession with potatoes, make it one to savour.
The Queen’s Gambit Chess, based on the popular Netflix series, is an app designed to teach you how to play chess. Starting with classic openings and the basics of how each piece moves and progressing to endgame strategies, the app offers numerous chess-related challenges to test your skills. Unfortunately, the checkmate-in-two-moves puzzles operate with only you able to make moves, making it an unrealistic representation of a real chess game.
Roto Force, a twin stick shooter available for iOS and Android, is a classic in the making. The auto-chess gameplay proves compelling and the 8-bit-style, almost monochrome graphics make it feel like some long lost PC Engine shooter. Pounding beats, smart but breathless action, and a learning experience that extends throughout your first play through make this game a winner.
Wordsmithing is a word puzzle game available for iOS and Android. You must spell words inside each level’s crossword-style grid of letters, with tiles dropping down from above to fill the spaces left by used letters. Bomb tiles, multipliers, and cracked or broken letters add to the complexity, and it does tempt you to watch ads in exchange for power-ups.
Finally, Clash Mini is a highly polished game after its nearly two year long beta. The Royal Ghost and Monk characters could use a rebalance, but the auto-chess gameplay is compelling. There's also a huge amount of content and cosmetics, with rounds over in seconds rather than minutes, making it an addictive quickfire game.
So, August is a great month for mobile gaming, with plentiful options for all players. Whether you're a beginner or a seasoned pro, there's something for everyone.
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