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. It’s beginning to look a lot like Saint Patrick’s Day. Well, at the very least the updates are looking that way. It’s not all green, though. I’ve found a few other things to fill out the list. 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!
Vampire Survivors, Free
Sometimes games are in this article because the update is super cool, or the notes were amusing. Other times they’re here because I like the game and just want to include it. Sometimes they’re here to help SEO, but don’t tell anyone I told you that. This one is a little of the latter two categories, because it sure isn’t the first. Basically, this update adds cloud saves (yes!), push notifications (why?), and does a bunch of bug fixes and general improvements. Vampire Survivors: it’s good.
Jetpack Joyride, Free
I feel like this was in last week’s edition. It was, wasn’t it? The Bling event? Well, time marches on and makes fools of us all. Barry Steakfries hasn’t missed a Saint Patty’s Day yet and he’s not about to start. In this special event, you can get your hands on cool new goodies like the Celtic Lord Garb, the Runestone Jetpack, and the Celtic Rune Dragon. Collect those shamrocks and see if you have the luck of the Irish. Otherwise you’ll have to pull out your own pot of gold.
Subway Surfers Tag,
Both of the Subway Surfers games got updates in the last week, and I’m going to put them both in here because it’s my party and I’ll do what I want. It looks like the main part of this update is a new character for your roster of skaters. The mysterious Miss Maia makes the scene, and she’s ready to run circles around the guard and own the yard with her powerful Swirling Spray. You can get her in the daily rewards, along with some other goodies. Seems fine.
Subway Surfers, Free
Well, here’s an odd one. Usually the Subway Surfers are going to a real-world city or country, but this time they’re just going to a vague underwater location. Watch out for Namor, kids! Koral gets a redesign and a new outfit, and Noel’s got some new dudes for the job as well. You can also pick up the ViperFish Board to cruise in style, and if you need to come up for air there are some extra challenges in Greece, Subway City, and Chang’an.
NBA 2K23 Arcade Edition,
This was the big thing Apple was pushing for Apple Arcade last week, and I don’t know how excited people got but it seems like a pretty normal update to me. You’ve basically got updated NBA teams and uniforms, bug fixes, and some additional Greatest of All-Time players like Vince Carter, Donovan Mitchell, Lebron James, and Gary Payton. There are ten new GOATs in total, and not one of them is a goat. Disappointing, but I’ll get over it after some time passes.
Mini Motorways,
Oh, this is a great game. I’ll play it anytime, and a new update is a great reason to fire it up again. What have we got here? Well, we’ve got a new map in the form of Busan. Certainly a city with its own unique traffic challenges, and a fun addition to the game. There are also some new challenges across all categories, and a variety of bug fixes and other improvements. Since I like this game a lot and the new map is nifty, I’m awarding this the coveted UMMSotW award for this week. Well, that’s settled then.
Horizon Chase 2,
And this is another great game. Apple Arcade might not be a thrill every week these days, but the existing library is pretty enjoyable. You know, while it lasts. Head to the Playground and you’ll be able to unlock some special green paints to celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day. Get on it, because it’s only for a limited time. There are several other changes and enhancements, and a bunch of bugs have been squashed real good-like. Not a whole lot, but that’s fine. They’re not all going to be big fellows, after all.
Galaga Wars+,
I haven’t thought about this game in a while. I used to play it a lot in its free-to-play form despite it being a tremendous grind. This update seems significant, as it adds a new mode called Cosmic Challenge. And what a challenge it must be, because they had to adjust the difficulty with a second update a couple days later. There are five missions every week, each one throwing you into a tricky hand-built scenario. Play through the challenges and you’ll be able to rank up your ships, unlocking additional perks to improve them. A couple of UI tweaks round things out here.
My Little Pony: Mane Merge,
Are these new ponies catching on? I really don’t know. I guess they’d be doing fine. Kids do love magic ponies. So, this update. It adds three new chapters to the story that you can play, a new endless mode for those who want that, a new mini-game to mess with when you need something to break up the usual business, and a bunch of new stickers to collect. Certainly a large update, and it’s hard to argue with that. I mean, you can argue with it, but you’ll look really silly arguing with a mobile game update. People will stare. And they will judge. You don’t want that. Just accept the update.
Royal Match, Free
And it’s the obligatory free-to-play matching puzzle update of the week, this time checking into Royal Match. That King Robert, folks. He’s in every second ad I watch in my other games. The thing is, this game has some serious hustle. One hundred new levels to play, a new arcade room area to explore, and some bug fixes and other improvements to enjoy. And there will be another one hundred levels in two more weeks. Fancy.
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!
