5 new mobile games to try this week – December 21st, 2023

Location-based games are a hit or miss, but Albedo Informatics aims to stand out from the rest with its unique occult-themed entry to the GPS trend. SIGIL lets you explore the eccentricities of The Gloam, where you’ll encounter everything from familiar mythological creatures to odd one-eyed beasts. You’ll need to find the whereabouts of missing locals within the mysterious realm, but things aren’t always what they seem, especially when the crimes are something you might have committed yourself.

The game also features stylised visuals and different weapons, including a BBQ Lighter that’s favoured by “fire-based mages and backyard chefs”.

Leave it to clown-faced villains to ruin our childhoods for us. In Ice Scream 8: Final Chapter, the childhood-ruining crime happens in the form of an ice cream factory, which, instead of the colourful joy it normally offers, brings only horror and death in the final chapter of the Ice Cream series.

The game tasks you with navigating the deathly nooks and crannies of Rod’s factory to escape, all while solving puzzles and slipping from the fatal grasps of Rod and Evil Nun. It also features varying difficulty levels to ensure everyone can enjoy the game at their own pace.

Scrooge as a platforming protagonist with full-on metroidvania vibes? Yes, please. Ebenezer and the Invisible World invites you to forget everything you know about the “A Christmas Carol” anti-hero and instead reimagine Scrooge with ghostly powers.

There are no Scrooge McDuck feels here either, as you’ll need to summon phantom friends and make use of their unique abilities across this non-linear Victorian fantasy. You’ll also collect a variety of magical weapons and discover the backstories of these spectral pals, all presented in vibrant hand-drawn visuals.

How often can you play a game that takes 400 literal days to finish? Not ever. In The Longing, you’ll do exactly that as a lowly Shade that’s tasked with only one thing – to wait for 400 days until you can wake up your slumbering King.

The game features excruciatingly slow movements that deliberately force you to slow down, stop, and ponder the meaning of life. You can wander across the labyrinthian caverns around you as you do so, and with the multiple endings, there’s bound to be something for everyone after the 400 days are done.

Netflix is once again proving its dedication to mobile gaming with Rockstar Games’ GTA series, now with modernised upgrades that introduce the popular franchise to a new generation. You can look forward to enhanced lighting and hi-res textures, as well as increased draw distance and more.

The definitive edition will take you through Grand Theft Auto III’s Liberty City to the 80s vibes of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, as well as the 90s feel of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, all without in-app purchases or pesky ads.