Parents rejoice, this week’s first new notable Thursday release is the latest kid pleaser from those fun folks at Toca Boca. Toca House is an entertaining collection of domestic chore-theme mini games like mowing the lawn, doing dishes, ironing and more, along with a new crazy cast of diverse characters from the Toca Universe. If my daughters’ cheers of “Toca Funny!” and “Yay Daddy…New Toca” this morning when I surprised them with an early copy of the game are any indication, I think this one is gonna be another big hit amongst the the toddlers and pre-schoolers.
A couple of other titles which I’ve already had a chance to play are Retro Racing and Rush City, both of which are universal apps. Retro Racing is brought to you by the developer of classic Amiga racing games, Nitro (Psygnosis) and ATR (Team17), this really fun 8-bit style top down racing game offers nostalgic, yet modern game play with random on-course pickups to help you power up and cross that checkered flag first. Acceleroto’s Rush City is an addictive endless runner set against a breathtaking nighttime cityscape backdrop. Its neat mission-based leveling up mechanism and plenitude of untimely deaths encourages replayability.
Warner Bros. is reviving some classic Midway arcade titles with the appropriately titled, Midway Arcade For just 99¢ you get ten games including Spy Hunter, Rampage, Joust, Root Beer Tapper, Defender, Arch Rivals, Air Hockey, Arcade Basketball, Pool, and Roll Ball! Plus there are two additional DLC packs available as IAPs which include NARC, Total Carnage and APB and Gauntlet, Gauntlet II and Wizard of Wor respectively. Hands down a MUCH better selection of titles than the lackluster (and overpriced) collection Atari put out. I haven’t had a chance to play this title yet, but seems like an ideal candidate for iCade support (fingers crossed) and I’m also hoping for multiplayer action in Gauntlet!
Other notable titles being released are (of course) a couple new ones from Chillingo, a free-to-play “endurance shooter” title called Mafia Rush™, which looks like it could be in the same vein as previous Chillingo-published titles, Minigore and Guerrilla Bob. The other is Sticky Sheep™ a physics-based game that combines elements of mini-golf and pinball along with cute fluffy sheep.
If tower defense games are your cup of tea, then you may want to check out Ember Entertainment’s Towers N’ Trolls which is available in separate iPhone-only and Universal releases. You say you prefer puzzle games, then check out Gamistry’s cute looking puzzle game Munch Time, which features a chameleon on a quest to find lunch using his super strong tongue to swing around, leap and latch onto flowers.
Finally, this brings us to Lume. A absolutely stunning looking adventure game from the team at
State of Play Games. The title was released last year for the PC and Mac where it was nominated for Excellence in Visual Art – IGF Awards 2012. “With a set built entirely out of paper and cardboard, and sumptuously filmed, Lume is a game with a style and tactility unlike any other. As Lumi, an inquisitive young girl, you discover that power to your grandad’s house has failed. What’s more, he’s nowhere to be seen, but appears to have left you some intriguing clues.” Unfortunately it is NOT a universal app and is instead available as separate iPhone and iPad releases.
Do you agree with my picks?
Any must-haves that we missed?
Let us know what you’ll be buying this week in the comments section below.
