Hello everyone, and welcome to the week! It’s time once again for our look back at the noteworthy updates of the last seven days. Another week in this awkward between-holiday period, and another eclectic mix of games to look through. Lots of anniversary updates recently, at least. Anyway, it’s enough of a list to get you through your coffee break, and that’s what it has to do. Of course, you can keep an eye out for updates yourself by participating in the TouchArcade forums. This weekly summary is just here to fill you in on the things you might have missed. Let’s go for it!
Hello Kitty Island Adventure,
Kitty time? Kitty time. Kuromi-chan is in the icon now, so that’s already a win. If you like taking pictures, you’ll appreciate the new Photo Op spots in each region. Invite the other characters in and get some nice group shots. There’s a new Creation Station that allows you to create even more goodies via crafting, and some cool new face and back accessories. There’s some kind of event involving mermaids afoot… er, afin, and some new stories to play. New visitors too? You know it. A nice update full of new things to do, and that’s what we like to see.
Simon’s Cat – Story Time,
This is a bit more of a plain update to write about, given the nature of the game. Still, if you can’t win with variety you can certainly attempt to win with sheer quantity. New levels! A whopping two hundred and fifty of them! That’s a lot, and there are more coming every week. Other than that, it’s just a bunch of bug fixes, performance improvements, and a few little tweaks here and there to make things nice and shiny. Thrilling? No, but for a puzzle game at this stage of its life, it’s about as good as you can expect.
Zookeeper World,
Phew, in hindsight I probably should have written about this one before Simon’s Cat. After seeing that update drop its whopping two hundred and fifty levels, this game’s mere twelve probably isn’t going to win many fans. But that’s the size of it, I’m afraid. Twelve new levels, and they won’t be available for a couple of weeks yet. I don’t even see any bug fixes and performance improvements in here. Why did I include it? Too late now. I’ll have to live with my regrets on this one.
Castle Crumble,
Okay, this one is probably safer. Let’s have a look and see what’s what in the world of Castle Crumble. Oh, now see, this one is benefiting from direct comparison to the previous entry. This new update adds the Amber Hills Kingdom with forty new levels to play, a new challenge, and a new conquest. This one has some bug fixes and improvements, so I think we can all agree that the proper work has been done. T’s crossed and i’s dotted, and all that. Sorry Zookeeper, you ended up the slimy bologna in an update sandwich!
Puyo Puyo Puzzle Pop,
I’ll level with you all: much as I love Puyo Puyo, I don’t love this particular version. Perhaps this update will help? It includes four new match rulesets for both Solo and Multiplayer, including Puyo Puyo, Puyo Puyo Sun, Non-Stop Fever, and Mega Puyo Rush. There are also two new Endless Puyo rulesets to dig into: Challenge Mission Puyo and Challenge Practice. Throw in three new classic Puyo Puyo tunes to pick up in the shop and a bevy of bug fixes, and that’s the lot.
Disney Heroes: Battle Mode, Free
I’ll keep this short and simple: new playable character, Max Goof from A Goofy Movie. No further notes, coveted UMMSotW award given. What? The formatting will break if I leave it like that? Ugh, that was the perfect mic drop moment. I guess I can mention the app celebrating its sixth anniversary? MAX GOOF. MAX FREAKING GOOF. MAX IS CANON. DO NOT ASK ABOUT MAX’S MOTHER, I DON’T THINK DISNEY HAS SORTED THEIR ANSWER ON THAT YET. MAX. GOOF.
Injustice 2, Free
And here’s a game celebrating its seventh anniversary! Wouldn’t it be neat if the next one was celebrating its eighth anniversary? I don’t think that will happen, but let’s have fun imagining it and wasting some space, because all this update has beyond some bug fixes and tweaks is a new Anniversary Pass. It features things to do and goodies to earn, and I suppose that’s really what this game is all about when you grind it down to the fine powder.
Temple Run 2, Free
See? No anniversary celebrations here at all. Certainly not an eighth one. The classic Runners have been cursed with undeath, and it’s up to Joshua Woods to save them in the guise of his new skin, the Ghost Chaser. Who are you going to telephone? Ghost Chaser! On top of that, the Chinese vampire Xi Xue Gui is also here to join in on some fun. The Blazing Sands map is back for a short engagement, and the classic monster characters are also back. Compete in the new global challenges and you can unlock the Spirit Frog mask. The classic pets Tortuga and Centennial are also in here. Wow! Quite the update. So good you probably won’t even notice it’s a tiny bit older than seven days ago.
AFK Arena, Free
Oh, this one is celebrating its fifth anniversary. With a little foresight I could have done a neat little three-in-a-row there. Oh well. This update sees a new Ancora constellation added to the Field of Stars, which once unlocked will give you some Dragonspeak Emblems from weekly quests. You could use some of those, right? There’s also a new adventure waiting for Baden – Knight of Blight. The Hopeless Isle? That sounds bad. Rounding things out, there’s a new recycling feature in the Ghoulish Gallery. That should make things a little easier while you’re Etching. Not bad, not bad.
Gardenscapes, Free
And we’ll end with the obligatory free-to-play matching puzzle game update for the week, and this time after a long absence it’s time for a return to the Austinverse. Gardenscapes has some new nonsense involving koalas, the Ocean’s Heart, and an expedition to the north that will lead to an encounter with the Snow Queen! Austin, buddy, what the heck are you up to? You’re a butler, man. Buttle! Exploring Mineral Valley? Explore the dusty cabinets!
That about wraps it up for last week’s significant updates. I’m sure I’ve missed some, though, so please feel free to comment below and let everyone know if you think something should be mentioned. As usual, major updates will likely get their own news stories throughout this week, and I’ll be back next Monday to summarize and fill in the blanks. Have a great week!