5 new mobile games to try this week – February 22nd, 2024

From the studio that brought you Super Cat Tales: PAWS comes another death-by-cute mobile entry in Shovel Pirate – and yes, it’s exactly as it sounds. You’ll play as a shovelling pirate in the form of a plump penguin with a bouncy behind (as evidenced by the game’s app icon), and you’re on a quest to dig up diamonds while smacking unwitting jungle animals with your shovel should they dare to stand in your way.

Despite the adorable visuals of the platformer, there are plenty of challenges to take on and traps to avoid. Secret collectibles are also littered throughout the 15 levels, but if the pirate penguin’s no-nonsense expression tells you anything, it’s that it’s undoubtedly committed to hunting for the last booty – no matter what it takes.

Feed the rebel in you by going against the rules in Please, Touch the Artwork 2, where – as the title suggests – you’re encouraged to poke at art pieces in a lovely point-and-click fashion. You’ll play as the undead skeleton of the renowned artist James Ensor, and while that sounds a tad depressing, all isn’t lost as you can revisit your paintings to solve puzzles and meet quirky characters along the way.

Puzzles include finding hidden objects, checking spot-the-difference images, and line drawing, with a handy hint system you can use across five gorgeous worlds and stunning painterly visuals.

The title might be punny and the artwork might give off Saturday morning cartoon vibes, but BROK the InvestiGator is darker than it seems. Part beat ‘em up and part adventure RPG, the game thrusts you into a depressing future where mankind no longer exists – instead, animals roam the land, but they’re sadly as plagued by social struggles as we are.

The game boasts fully voice-acted lines as well as accessibility for visually impaired players. You’ll play as the titular investiGator-slash-former boxer and solve puzzles via point-and-click mechanics – but if reason doesn’t work, you can always use your fists to beat the answers into submission.

Invincible: Guarding the Globe lets you battle against an evil clone army alongside the titular hero, with an all-new narrative that somehow revolves around stolen burger meat. As a member of the Global Defense Agency, you’ll manage your squad of super-powered individuals under GDA chief Cecil Stedman as seen on the hit Amazon Prime TV series.

The game’s idle nature makes levelling up your characters an absolute breeze – all you have to do is pick the best Attacker, Defender, or Support role for your team, deploy them onto the automated battlefield, and watch as Atom Eve, the Mauler Twins, and all your comic book faves ramp up the body count in Invincible-branded bloody fashion.

Any game brave enough to put SMOL in its title is a clear winner, so Ubisoft knew exactly what they were doing when they decided to chibi-fy Tom Clancy’s classic shooter with Rainbow Six: SMOL. Defusing bombs and saving hostages is part of your regular nine-to-five when you’re a Rainbow Recruit, but what makes your day job more fun in the world of Smol is that you can destroy literally everything as part of your job description.

No door, wall, or random piece of furniture and/or household appliance is safe when you and your squad are levelling entire buildings across completely destructible environments. Use your Rainbow Operators’ special abilities to clear missions and get home – or you can also chuck the game’s infinite number of expendable Recruits at your enemies for some smol but terrible mayhem.