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. Some big updates hit this week, so we’ve got a full list of stuff to check out. I’ve gathered up my favorites for you to mull over while you ponder just how quickly this year has flown by. 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!
Terraria, $4.99
I’m doing that thing where I give the coveted UMMSotW award out right away this week. But how could I not in this case? Terraria got a real corker of an update this week, adding Town Slimes, three new pieces of equipment, some new tools including the Hand of Creation, some new blocks, new decor, and more. There are some new world seeds to check out, plus improvements to melee, boss battles, the UI, and overall game balance. If you’ve been away from Terraria for a while or have never played it, there’s no better time to jump in.
Mario Kart Tour, Free
Some of the new features in this big update have yet to be made available, but they’re in there. Trust me. The biggest one is the addition of Battles, a staple of the Mario Kart franchise since the very beginning. I’m looking forward to seeing how these play when they pop up in future tours. The UI has seen some improvements, allowing you to quickly replay a race or head immediately to the next one. And of course, the other major news is that the gatcha-style pipes are being removed from the game in favor of a more transparent system of trading gems for characters, karts, and kites. That’s… not something you see often in free-to-play games, and I have to wonder why they are doing it. Not complaining, mind.
Tiny Tower: 8 Bit Retro Tycoon, Free
See, what you usually see is more like this. There are new ways to spend money in Tiny Tower! The Premium Pass is now available in Gold and Silver varieties, with more goodies in the Gold one, naturally. You can also spend Golden tickets in new ways, doubling or tripling up on a single floor for additional extras. You also get two new costumes and two new pets to collect, plus a few other tweaks and fixes.
Genshin Impact, Free
Updates for Genshin Impact are still pretty big news, and they’re generally large enough to understand why. This latest version, titled King Deshret and the Three Magi, offers up some new areas, new characters, new events, new stories, new weapons, and new bosses to enjoy. Cyno with the Staff of the Scarlet Sands in the Land of Lower Setekh. I’m doing a cheeky Clue-style thing here, but it’s less apparent in text. Oh well. The important thing is that Genshin Impact has a ton of new content to explore, and I tried to make a joke. In the end, that’s basically what we’re here for.
The Oregon Trail,
The Apple Arcade version of The Oregon Trail has been a surprising treat so far, and its updates are always worth looking into. This time it adds the ability to visit storytelling campsites to listen to folk tales about sixteen creepy creatures. There’s a new path to California to tackle, following the tragic route of the Donner-Reed Party. Sometimes this game is about educating, after all. Beyond that, Walk the Trail mode now has a new feature called Dilemmas that can cause status effects. The only way to get rid of them is to do more walking. There’s a bit more than that, but I’ll let you explore the rest of this update on your own.
LEGO® Brawls,
Halloween update time? Oh goodness, I guess it is. Well, LEGO Brawls will be the first shot but I’m sure it won’t be the last. In the Brick-or-Treat Brawl, you need to collect as much candy as possible in the returning spooky levels. This event will be rolling on for five weeks, so… I hope you like Halloween? There are also the usual performance improvements and bug fixes, which are the opposite of scary. They are very safe and happy things, calming and not startling at all. BOO! Haaaa, I got you. Look. Just let me have this.
Marvel Contest of Champions, Free
I’ll be honest, it’s sometimes hard to keep track of what is actually in each update to this game. It’s always a lot. This one has a new chapter that kicks off Act 8 of the story, and it involves a shadowy organization called Ouroboros. No one good ever names their group Ouroboros, by the way. Titania’s challenges continue, the Eternity of Pain challenges continue, and I can’t help but think I’ve written about most of this when the last update hit. Well, all that stuff that started in early September continues here. Enjoy more of it.
Disney Heroes: Battle Mode, Free
Recently, the Disney Magic Kingdoms game kicked off a Turning Red event. I guess Disney Heroes got a bit jealous, because Mei Lee joins the playable roster as of this update. There are also some new campaign chapters and the typical bug fixes and performance enhancements. You know who I’d really like to see added in this game? Mei’s mother. Now that’s what I would call an OP character.
Diablo Immortal, Free
It’s still kind of weird after years of noise and drama that this game just exists now. So this looks like a somewhat major update, with a new dungeon, a new castle to defend for some rewards, some new items, events, a new Battle Pass for you to chuck money at, a new raid boss, and more. I’ve washed my hands of this one but I know plenty of people are still enjoying it. Now there is more of it to enjoy, which is a good thing for those who have phones.
Asphalt 8: Airborne, Free
Hey, a little crossover between Gameloft games with this update. Jason from Gangstar Vegas along with sentient car Ramona join Asphalt 8 via the Gangstar Vegas Season Pass. With new vehicles, upgrades, and more, it should be a wild ride. The upgrade system for the game has seen some serious overhauls, so you might want to hop into the game and see if the changes make it better or worse for you. Now when is the Spider-Man Unlimited collaboration?
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!