Games

Unity 5 game engine launches with iOS Metal and 64-bit support and other improvements

Following its mid-2014 announcement and a beta release last October, the latest edition of the Unity graphics engine by Unity Technoologies is now available for download.

The all-new Unity 5, released at the 2015 Game Developers Conference, features upgraded animation and physics, a new lighting system, new audio options and many other improvements designed to make mobile games more gorgeous and shiny than ever before.

On the Apple side of things, Unity 5 offers support for 64-bit computing and Metal, Apple's high-performance graphics framework aimed at game developers which can speed up graphics by a factor of ten compared to OpenGL.

Mortal Kombat X is hitting iOS this April

More than two decades following its 1992 debut on the the Genesis, SNES and arcades, Mortal Kombat, a video game franchise developed by Midway Games' Chicago studio, is about to go mobile with the impending release of Mortal Kombat X for iOS and Android, as first noted by Eurogamer.

Developed by NetherRealm Studios, the game will be published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, which acquired the Mortal Kombat development team in 2011 and now owns the rights of the series.

Apple highlighting indie game sales in featured App Store section

Apple is currently highlighting several indie game sales in a new featured App Store section called 'Amazing Indie Games.' Users can find the section by visiting the 'Featured' section of the App Store and tapping on the banner image you see above.

All of the games listed in the section are made by independent developers (an individual or small team), and are being discounted by at least 50% for a limited time. Titles include Space Age: A Cosmic Adventure, Battleheart Legacy, Rules! and more.

Tap Heroes review: whether you are active or not, your adventure continues

You may recall my review of Dreeps, which is a role-playing adventure game that plays by itself, even when you don’t have it open. It works great for gamers that just don’t have time to game.

Tap Heroes is similar in that the fighting continues whether you actively participate, or simply watch the action unfold. We have a game review of Tap Heroes for you today.

TWIST3D puts a new spin on the match-three genre

Traditional match-three games are usually presented on a flat screen with some kind of grid. Players usually flip tiles in order to make a match and point scores go up the more matches you make at one time.

TWIST3D is kind of not at all like that. It is a match-three game, but it is played on a rotating cube instead of a flat grid. You can’t flip tiles, but you can flip the entire cube. You earn the most points for matching tiles that have gems inside of them.

Okay? is a minimalist puzzle game that tests your indie ideologies

I’ve often heard gamers say they would rather pay for a title up front instead of downloading it for free and then being asked to pay to continue playing. The idea being that good indie games deserve support, but it shouldn’t be forced on them.

Okay? is a minimalist puzzle game that puts your indie support ideologies to the test. What if you had the option to pay money or play for free, with no change in the content? Would you still show your financial support?

Imps In Tokyo is a unique atmospheric adventure arcade game

Most of us have wondered where dreams come from at least once or twice in our lives. There is even a whole industry around interpreting them. What if there was a whole other dimension where creatures were fighting to protect our good dreams from other creatures that are trying to steal them.

Imps In Tokyo is an adventure arcade that tells the story of good creatures protecting our dreams from bad ones. If they don’t stop the invasion, we may never sleep soundly again.

AG Drive review: get behind the wheel of an anti-gravity racecar

I’ve mentioned before that there are just too many racing games on the market. It gets to the point where, unless a game is doing something different, it starts to feel like a new skin on an old title.

AG Drive does something different. Instead of putting the pedal to the metal on hyper realistic pavement, players get behind the wheel of anti-gravity ships and blast off at incredible speeds across the skyways of the universe. We’ve got a full game review of AG Drive for you today.

Rovio’s new ‘Jolly Jam’ puzzler now available in the App Store

Finnish video game developer Rovio released a new game for iOS and Android devices today entitled 'Jolly Jam.' It's a puzzler that looks nothing like the games from the firm's popular bird-flinging 'Angry Birds' franchise, and more like Candy Crush.

Unsurprisingly, Jolly Jam is a freemium title, which tasks you with strategically matching your jelly in a box to battle monsters and advance to the next level. All of this is part of an effort to help Prince Jam save Princess Honey and the Jelly Kingdom.

Twitch reflex based Duet Game is Apple’s new Free App of the Week

The full version of Duet Game by Melbourne, Australia-based Kumobius has just been slashed to zero bucks as Apple's latest free app of week. As you know, each Thursday App Store editors get to cherry-pick an app or a game that goes temporarily free for a week.

This twitch reflex title was on the App Store's Best of 2013 list and shouldn't be missed. Easy to play, hard to master, Duet elevates the act of dodging falling blocks into something “captivating, beautiful, even profound.”

Review: Alto’s Adventure, an endless snowboarding odyssey unlike any other

As promised, developer Snow's much anticipated game called Alto's Adventure has backflipped into the App Store. Two years in the making, Alto's Adventure challenges you to embark on an endless snowboarding odyssey across procedurally generated alpine hills and breathtaking scenery.

You're zipping through neighboring villages, drifting through peaks and valleys, collecting shooting stars, passing through ancient woodlands and long-abandoned ruins while enjoying with simulated night and day, weather conditions, awesome lighting effects and more, courtesy of the Unity graphics engine.

Featuring a somber soundtrack and smooth execution, the game has you rescuing runaway llamas while performing various tricks to progress and unlock new characters, each with its own distinct set of capabilities and snowboarding styles. Best of all, Alto’s Adventure is a premium game with no ads or In-App Purchases.

Nintendo working on social ‘Mii’ smartphone app

Nintendo is working on a new smartphone app, the company's President Satoru Iwata told business magazine Nikkei on Thursday. It's in development now, and should be finished around the time Nintendo reports its annual earnings in May.

According to Iwata, the app will feature Miis—the lovable, customizable avatars that represent players used in Nintendo Wii and Nintendo Wii U. Players will be able to customize their Mii characters, and share them on their social networks.