01-11-2020, 12:00 PM
The Weekender: Arnold ex Machina Edition
<div><div><img src="https://www.sickgaming.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/the-weekender-arnold-ex-machina-edition.jpg" class="ff-og-image-inserted"></div>
<p>I don’t know if you could tell but I’ve been doing a lot of random things this week. Early Jan is usually a slow time so might as well experiment to fill the void. Been doing a bit more news as interesting stories have cropped up, and also been refreshing our Apple Arcade coverage to try and get a read on where to take that.</p>
<p><em>Black Desert Mobile</em> seems to be doing very well for itself at the moment, so we’re going to be updating and maintaining <a href="https://www.pockettactics.com/guides/black-desert-mobile-guide/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">our guide on it</a> for the moment. It’s genuinely a beautiful game, even on mobile, and if you enjoy MMORPGs then you should definitely check it out. Don’t let the free-to-play trappings put you off – there’s barely anything gated behind paywalls, but it is very grindy.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, thousands of miles away…</p>
<h2>New Releases</h2>
<h3>End of the Universe (<a href="https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/end-of-the-universe/id1448678917?mt=8" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">iOS</a> & <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.kylebarrett.EndoftheUniverse" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Android</a>)</h3>
<p><a href="https://www.pockettactics.com/reviews/immortal-rogue/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Immortal Rogue</em></a> released around 11 months ago and was one of the highlights of mobile rogue-likes in 2019. Developer Kyle Barrett has returned this week with another creation. This one swaps an immortal vampire-thing with a star fighter. It’s a shooter designed for one-touch player, and has rogue-like elements as well as lots and lots of space monsters. We haven’t had a chance to play it yet, but we’ll add it to the review pile. Here’s some gameplay to tide you over in the meantime:</p>
<iframe class='youtube-player' type='text/html' width='980' height='552' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/nKb42OaqVBE?version=3&rel=1&fs=1&autohide=2&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&wmode=transparent' allowfullscreen='true' style='border:0;'></iframe>
<h2>App News & Updates</h2>
<p>Speaking of <em>Black Desert Mobile</em>, they’ve added yet more content to the game this week with a new PvP Guild War mode. Here’s an official summary:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Guild War is a PvP mode specifically made for guilds, where Adventurers can engage in battle against enemy guild members in the open world of Black Desert Mobile. Guild masters and officers can declare war by entering the enemy guild’s name in the guild window. At least 10 guild members are required to attend within 48 hours along with a payment of 3 million silver from their guild fund.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>You can read more in the <a href="https://www.world.blackdesertm.com/Ocean/News/Detail?boardNo=137" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">patch notes here</a>.</p>
<p>While we’re on the subject of MMORPGs, it seems there’s an official <em>Final Fantasy XIV</em> spin-off game in the works for mobile in this genre. It will be set in a parallel universe to the main <em>FF15</em> game that was released in 2016. It’s being developed by developers JSC and GAEA in conjunction with Square. <a href="https://www.enduins.com/mobile-games/new-final-fantasy-xv-mobile-mmorpg/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Enduins has more details</a>.</p>
<p>If I were to ask you what you thought the most talked about game on Twitter was in 2019, what would be your answer? It’s not what I thought it would be, but it was in the same ballpark – Fate/Grand Order is the winner, with Fortnite coming in second. <a href="https://www.pocketgamer.biz/asia/news/72301/fate-grand-order-most-talked-about-game-twitter/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">PocketGamer.biz</a> has the full top-ten list if you want to check it out.</p>
<p>Last and certainly not least, our good friends over at Tiny Touch Tales are working <a href="http://www.maze-machina.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">on a new game</a> due out on January 15th on both iOS and Android. From Mr. Rauers himself:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Maze Machina combines a simple turn-based swipe to move mechanic with a tile based item system that allows for endless combinations of tactical attack, defense and utility moves on a small 4×4 grid. Short game sessions allow for quick bursts of tense gameplay which you can hop in and out of at any point. In various modes and high score challenges you can measure your skill against other players.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>We’ve missed having a new TTT game to play around with. Michael’s already lined up to do the review, but because he’s also away on holiday we might not have it ready for launch day. Will be done ASAP, though. Here’s a trailer:</p>
<iframe class='youtube-player' type='text/html' width='980' height='552' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/F14-tmgeRdQ?version=3&rel=1&fs=1&autohide=2&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&wmode=transparent' allowfullscreen='true' style='border:0;'></iframe>
<h2>Best App Sales</h2>
<p>There’s honestly nothing worth shouting about this week as far as I can see, although feel free to suggest anything you’ve seen you think readers should know about.</p>
<p><em>That’s all for this week – see you all Monday!</em></p>
</div>
https://www.sickgaming.net/blog/2020/01/...a-edition/
<div><div><img src="https://www.sickgaming.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/the-weekender-arnold-ex-machina-edition.jpg" class="ff-og-image-inserted"></div>
<p>I don’t know if you could tell but I’ve been doing a lot of random things this week. Early Jan is usually a slow time so might as well experiment to fill the void. Been doing a bit more news as interesting stories have cropped up, and also been refreshing our Apple Arcade coverage to try and get a read on where to take that.</p>
<p><em>Black Desert Mobile</em> seems to be doing very well for itself at the moment, so we’re going to be updating and maintaining <a href="https://www.pockettactics.com/guides/black-desert-mobile-guide/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">our guide on it</a> for the moment. It’s genuinely a beautiful game, even on mobile, and if you enjoy MMORPGs then you should definitely check it out. Don’t let the free-to-play trappings put you off – there’s barely anything gated behind paywalls, but it is very grindy.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, thousands of miles away…</p>
<h2>New Releases</h2>
<h3>End of the Universe (<a href="https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/end-of-the-universe/id1448678917?mt=8" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">iOS</a> & <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.kylebarrett.EndoftheUniverse" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Android</a>)</h3>
<p><a href="https://www.pockettactics.com/reviews/immortal-rogue/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Immortal Rogue</em></a> released around 11 months ago and was one of the highlights of mobile rogue-likes in 2019. Developer Kyle Barrett has returned this week with another creation. This one swaps an immortal vampire-thing with a star fighter. It’s a shooter designed for one-touch player, and has rogue-like elements as well as lots and lots of space monsters. We haven’t had a chance to play it yet, but we’ll add it to the review pile. Here’s some gameplay to tide you over in the meantime:</p>
<iframe class='youtube-player' type='text/html' width='980' height='552' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/nKb42OaqVBE?version=3&rel=1&fs=1&autohide=2&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&wmode=transparent' allowfullscreen='true' style='border:0;'></iframe>
<h2>App News & Updates</h2>
<p>Speaking of <em>Black Desert Mobile</em>, they’ve added yet more content to the game this week with a new PvP Guild War mode. Here’s an official summary:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Guild War is a PvP mode specifically made for guilds, where Adventurers can engage in battle against enemy guild members in the open world of Black Desert Mobile. Guild masters and officers can declare war by entering the enemy guild’s name in the guild window. At least 10 guild members are required to attend within 48 hours along with a payment of 3 million silver from their guild fund.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>You can read more in the <a href="https://www.world.blackdesertm.com/Ocean/News/Detail?boardNo=137" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">patch notes here</a>.</p>
<p>While we’re on the subject of MMORPGs, it seems there’s an official <em>Final Fantasy XIV</em> spin-off game in the works for mobile in this genre. It will be set in a parallel universe to the main <em>FF15</em> game that was released in 2016. It’s being developed by developers JSC and GAEA in conjunction with Square. <a href="https://www.enduins.com/mobile-games/new-final-fantasy-xv-mobile-mmorpg/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Enduins has more details</a>.</p>
<p>If I were to ask you what you thought the most talked about game on Twitter was in 2019, what would be your answer? It’s not what I thought it would be, but it was in the same ballpark – Fate/Grand Order is the winner, with Fortnite coming in second. <a href="https://www.pocketgamer.biz/asia/news/72301/fate-grand-order-most-talked-about-game-twitter/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">PocketGamer.biz</a> has the full top-ten list if you want to check it out.</p>
<p>Last and certainly not least, our good friends over at Tiny Touch Tales are working <a href="http://www.maze-machina.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">on a new game</a> due out on January 15th on both iOS and Android. From Mr. Rauers himself:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Maze Machina combines a simple turn-based swipe to move mechanic with a tile based item system that allows for endless combinations of tactical attack, defense and utility moves on a small 4×4 grid. Short game sessions allow for quick bursts of tense gameplay which you can hop in and out of at any point. In various modes and high score challenges you can measure your skill against other players.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>We’ve missed having a new TTT game to play around with. Michael’s already lined up to do the review, but because he’s also away on holiday we might not have it ready for launch day. Will be done ASAP, though. Here’s a trailer:</p>
<iframe class='youtube-player' type='text/html' width='980' height='552' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/F14-tmgeRdQ?version=3&rel=1&fs=1&autohide=2&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&wmode=transparent' allowfullscreen='true' style='border:0;'></iframe>
<h2>Best App Sales</h2>
<p>There’s honestly nothing worth shouting about this week as far as I can see, although feel free to suggest anything you’ve seen you think readers should know about.</p>
<p><em>That’s all for this week – see you all Monday!</em></p>
</div>
https://www.sickgaming.net/blog/2020/01/...a-edition/