The developer behind two games, Alto’s Adventure and Alto’s Odyssey, has made them both free.
Alto’s Adventure: Join Alto and his friends as they embark on an endless snowboarding odyssey. Journey across the beautiful alpine hills of their native wilderness, through neighbouring villages, ancient woodlands, and long-abandoned ruins.
Alto’s Odyssey: Join Alto and his friends and set off on an endless sandboarding journey to discover its secrets. Soar above windswept dunes, traverse thrilling canyons, and explore long-hidden temples in a fantastical place far from home.
Electronic Arts is releasing a Command & Conquer remastered collection on June 5. It features Tiberian Dawn and Red Alert along with their three expansion packs: Covert Ops, Counterstrike, and The Aftermath. They provide a reveal trailer on YouTube. The graphics are in a higher resolution to match modern device screens, up to 4K resolution. Some aspect of gameplay has been changed, but it’s otherwise faithful to the original games. I remember playing Red Alert and liked it, so I look forward to the remastered version It will be available for PC via Steam and Origin.
Correction: A previous version of this article stated that it would be released for PC and Mac. It will be available only for Windows.
2020 is the 40th anniversary of Missile Command and Atari is bringing it to iOS sometime this spring.
Missile Command: Recharged maintains the same perspective of the original game, in which missile silos battle incoming rockets to protect civilian structures. Recharged uses a neon-colored visual design, a la classic arcade game re-imaginings like Pac Man Championship Edition and Space Invaders Extreme. Gameplay has been remixed, with power-ups, an upgrade system, and an augmented reality mode that projects gameplay onto a “virtual arcade cabinet.”
Long awaited by mobile gamers, the huge Stardew Valley 1.4 update is finally available for iOS and iPadOS. There are new 14 heart events for every spouse, a new late-game building upgrade in town, Fish Ponds for farming, over 60 new items, 24 hairstyles, 181 shirts, and other new clothing items, or create your own clothes with the Tailoring skill, sheds can be upgraded, 14 new music tracks, transfer save files on PC to mobile, and various Quality of Life improvements.
iOS game Florence by Annapurna Interactive is coming to other platforms on February 13. Nintendo Switch, PC and Mac via Steam and GOG, and the Mac App Store are the platforms to be included. The game will be US$5.99. Florence was awarded for an Apple Design Award and a BAFTA for Best Mobile Game. The game tells the story of a young woman’s journey through both the spectacular and bleak moments of her very first love. You can watch the trailer below and check out the game on the App Store for US$2.99.
Apple uploaded a new video ad for Apple Arcade on YouTube. Set to “Welcome to My World” by Dean Martin, it’s a fun video that highlights the universal nature of the gaming service: Play on any (Apple) device, at any time, in any place, and at your own pace. Here are the games shown in the video:
[0:05] Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the Lost Realm, by Cornfox and Bros. [0:13] Skate City, by Snowman [0:20] Little Orpheus, by Sumo Digital [0:29] WHAT THE GOLF, by Fun Plus | Triband [0:35] LEGO Brawls, by LEGO | Red Games Co. [0:45] Shinsekai: Into the Depths, by Capcom [0:50] Ultimate Rivals™: The Rink, by Bit Fry Game Studios, Inc.
In most games and other depictions, necromancers are usually the bad guys. But in Undead Horde you get to play as one. Come to think of it, that could still make it the bad guy. Your enemy is the paladin Benevictor, who defeated you and imprisoned you in a cage. But thanks to an unlikely hero you have escaped. Slay the living, then reanimate them as your own soldiers. Upgrade your character with an endless number of weapons, armor, and magical items, and sell and trade your loot for more gear. And the best part about Undead Horde is that it’s one of those “old-fashioned” games without in-app microtransactions. No coins, gold, gems, etc. Just one purchase and you get to play. App Store: US$5.99
LEGO has released a new game exclusively for Apple Arcade called LEGO Builder’s Journey. It’s a puzzle game in a LEGO world with high-quality renderings of LEGO elements. I’m impressed with the screenshots and accompanying video. This is like HD LEGOs.
Throughout the narrative, there will be ups and downs, challenges and celebrations. Take the time to experiment, and most importantly, to play as figuring out who we are and what we become is the Builder’s Journey.
Apple Arcade is available for US$4.99/month or US$49.99/year.
Popular farming game Stardew Valley is on sale for US$4.99 (Down from US$7.99). In the game, your grandpa passes on the deed to his farm in the valley. After an unhappy life working for Joja Corporation, your character settles down for a more simple life. You can farm crops, raise and breed animals, and start a family with 12 potential marriage candidates around town. There are festivals to party at, caves to find treasure and monsters, or just spend the day fishing. After months of hearing about it I finally downloaded the game. A couple things I don’t like: I’m not a fan of dragging my finger around the screen to move the character, so I’ll probably buy it on my Switch. And there doesn’t seem to be a way to save your games to the cloud, so you’ll have a separate game on your iPhone and iPad.
Terraforming Mars, a Steam game that was previously only available for PCs, has made its way to iOS. It’s a strategy game in which players try to terraform Mars to make it habitable. You play as a corporation, and each one has a different specialization, like metal, heavy industry, financier, biotech, or energy. You work together with other corporations in the terraforming process, and compete to get points based on your contributions. You can play solo with AI opponents or online with humans. It requires a minimum of iOS 10 to download. App Store: US$8.99
Sid Meier’s Civilization VI: Gathering Storm is now available as an in-app purchase for the iOS app. Gathering Storm brings new features to the game, most notably climate change. It also adds seven World Wonders, eight new civilizations, nine new leaders, and new units, districts, buildings, and governments. The climate change will probably prove to be the most interesting. A new Power system can improve your late-game buildings. Resources like coal, uranium, and oil can be burned for fuel but they have a negative impact on global CO2 levels. But there are green alternatives like geothermal energy, wind farms, and solar farms.
