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. Things are starting to chill out for the year, but we still have plenty of holiday updates ahead of us I’m sure. Some of today’s updates are like that, while others are not. I expect next week to tilt a little more in favor of the seasonal stuff. 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!
Teeny Tiny Town, Free
Hmm, this seems like a more technical update than the usual, but let’s see what we have here. I think the weekly challenges are the new content that most will care about, and that is a nice thing to have. Apple Pro Motion support has been added, a Christmas theme is available, and a lot of graphical/UI enhancements have been made alongside a bunch of optimization tweaks. That all sounds very good. There were a few other updates after the big one this week, mostly involving bug fixes. I can’t think of a joke for them, so imagine a good one. What a card that Shaun is! Invite him to every fancy party!
Samba de Amigo: Party-To-Go,
I’m busy today so I’ll just go ahead and give this the coveted UMMSotW award for this week. I like the game, I like the new songs, it’s all wins all around. The new songs in this update are Happy Holidays – Jolly Party Mix, The Vampire by DECO*27, and Baka Mitai (Taxi Driver Edition) from Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio. You also get a Tails costume, a Tails icon, and some Eggman maracas. The tutorial has also seen some improvements, in case you’re coming into the game fresh. Look, I’m just here for Baka Mitai.
Jetpack Joyride, Free
You might think Jetpack Joyride would be reaching for that holiday fruit, but it’s too early for that, friends. The game has at least a couple of updates in the queue before it gets to the presents. So for this week we have an event themed around… hygiene? I mean… sure, why not? Collect hand soap tokens and try to unlock some sweet rewards like a new skin for the Profit Bird, a Sanitizer jetpack, a Nurse costume, and a Medic skin for the S.A.M. robot. Let’s get clean! Because clean is better than dirty!
Pizza Hero, Free
This one just barely missed last week’s article. It’s a really good one, because it adds an endless mode to the game. Now that’s some bacon with maple syrup, if you ask me. Haptic feedback is in, you can now see how many pets can be rescued from the World Select screen, various fixes have been made, and some tweaks to the leaderboards and scoring elements have been implemented. Endless mode! Endless Pizza Hero! You can play Pizza Hero until you literally die of old age now! That’s great. Technology can do it all now.
Tiny Tower: Pixel Life Builder, Free
Who is still playing Tiny Tower in 2023? Shaun is, that’s who. I found this game oddly compelling while I did my little stint in the hospital last month, even though you don’t really do a whole lot in it. At any rate, Christmas event time. Collect the presents. Spin the wheel. Roll the dice. Gather bells to trade for various goodies. All this nothing to do, and I have no time to do it. Apparently this is just the first part of the event, too. Plenty of nothing for me to do over the holidays, it seems. I’ll have to find more effective ways to ignore my work without getting hospitalized.
June’s Journey: Hidden Objects, Free
This is not a matching puzzle game but it will have to serve the role of the obligatory free-to-play matching puzzle update of the week because I’m tired of putting the Blast games in here and I don’t feel like digging up anything else. Anyway, June is going to the Swiss Alps. That’s a nice place to be for the holidays, I imagine. Virginia is going too, so she won’t be lonely. I don’t know if everyone has Travels yet, so if you don’t… well, enjoy the nothing update I guess?
Warped Kart Racers,
Another update for Warped Kart Racers! Will it include new racers? New tracks? Let’s have a look and see what’s in store for us. Hm. Well, it’s a new game mode. That’s something, at least. The Overcharge Modifier allows you to charge up huge boosts and unleash them at your leisure in both League and Free Play. There’s also a holiday episode to play where you can unlock special Winter and Christmas rewards by playing League and Multiplayer. Go forth, accomplish the deeds. Scoot.
Solitaire Stories,
You know what game never lets us down with the content we crave in an update? Solitaire Stories. This one is a pretty good one as usual, with a few events to enjoy. There’s a new story called Winter Thief that sees Allison Grey doing her atypical detective work on a new case. Help her get to the bottom of the disappearances of children in a Nordic village. On top of that, there are three new events. Build A Snowman, Decorate Cookies, and Light The Candles. Just from the names alone I want to make up a new award for maximum holiday effort and give it to this game. Well done, folks.
TIME LOCKER+,
Sometimes Apple Arcade + updates hit both the Apple Arcade version of a game and the normal version, but that isn’t the case with this one. It’s Time Locker+ only. There’s a new Hardcore mode you can unlock by getting a score of 10k points or higher, so get at that if you want it. There are also some new characters, because why not? Everyone loves new characters. It’s the tangy taste that tickles the taste buds of game enjoyers everywhere. I myself am not immune. Give me all the characters! More!
LEGO® Brawls,
Jingle Brawls, Jingle Brawls, jingle in the… halls? Can’t think of any other word that rhymes with Brawls. The holiday season is back in LEGO Brawls and you can show your goodwill toward man by slapping him upside his round head with your little yellow LEGO claw. Do that and you might get some presents, because even Santa thinks that stuff is hilarious. Holiday Game Mode has once again been engaged for the duration of the season, making everything look season-appropriate. You can also collect some Toys at the Elf Clubhouse, with the first to to collect fifty taking home the win. Ho ho ho LEGO!
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!
