Review: Era Deluxe

This is a freemium game review, in which we give our impressions immediately after booting a game up, again after three days, and finally after seven days. If you look at most of the truly successful sci-fi stories told - regardless of the medium they're told in - there's always a human element. We wouldn't care about Luke's journey on the way to becoming a Jedi if he were a heaving blob mon...

PocketGamer.biz Week That Was: San Francisco swaggers, Puzzle and Dragons roars, and Google responds to Game Center

One of the biggest challenges any developer looking to make its mark in the mobile world faces is finding the right people to hire. On that note, you'd think that devs based in San Francisco's booming Bay Area would have no problem scoping out the top talent, wouldn't you? In reality, however, almost the opposite is true. Case in point: With both Mobile Gaming USA and Google's I/O 2013 takin...

Defend your town with designer toys - Huck Gee's Battle Tails coming to iOS and Android

If you're into the world of designer toys, chances are good that you know who Huck Gee is. The California-based creator of designer toys has had three of his pieces added to the permanent collection of New York's Museum of Modern Art and has worked with fashion designers like Marc Jacobs and Jil Sander. Soon, however, Gee's toys will be available on your iOS or Android device of choice with ...

Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault / QForce finally ready for Vita debut, coming next week

Whether you call it Full Frontal Assault or QForce, chances are good that you've been waiting for the upcoming Ratchet & Clank if you're a fan of the franchise who owns a Vita. Originally scheduled for a release in January, the Vita version failed to appear on time, although Sony assured us that the team at Tin Giant was working tirelessly on polishing up the Vita port. Now after close to si...

Iwata announces 3DS Sonic, Game Gear games for eShop, and more during Nintendo Direct

Nintendo's president and CEO Satoru Iwata has just finished hosting his company's latest Wii U-themed Nintendo Direct newscast. Although the broadcast was primarily focused on Nintendo's home console, the Japanese company's 3DS handheld wasn't completely left out in the dark. For example, Nintendo announced that it's entered a new partnership with Sega to publish new Sonic the Hedgehog games...

Sonic The Hedgehog producer on remastering the Mega Drive classic for iOS and Android

After helping Sega out on last year's remastered Sonic CD port, Aussie coder Christian Whitehead has once again being enlisted by the Sonic The Hedgehog creator to help remake one of its classic games. This time around, Whitehead is assisting the Sega team on the game that started it all. Yep, Sega's classic Mega Drive platformer Sonic The Hedgehog. As promised, Sega + Whitehead have complet...

Review: Redline Rush

In real life, driving a powerful car very quickly is an incredibly difficult task. It requires years of practice, an affinity with the machine you're using, and an understanding that the slightest error will end in a hideous, painful death. In Redline Rush it requires two buttons. And neither of them is the accelerator. This is a big, dumb, Hollywood car chase of an endless driver, then. ...

This week on the 3DS eShop - Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity, Swords & Soldiers 3D, and The Starship Damrey

There aren't a huge number of new games available on the eShop this week. Mind you, the stuff that is new is fairly noteworthy. If you're a Pokemon fan - in particular, a fan of the Mystery Dungeon series - and based in Europe, then this week is your lucky week. Let's go, go, go... European eShop releases Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity is the latest in the Mystery Du...

Review: Running with Friends

This is a freemium game review, in which we give our impressions immediately after booting a game up, again after three days, and finally after seven days. I love the idea of the "... with Friends" series, I really do. I get to enjoy multiplayer sessions with my friends, but we don't have to go through the painful process of coordinating our schedules to go head-to-head. The way they work is...

The HD Adventures of Rotating Octopus Character is heading to Vita this summer

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Hardware Round-up: Google Edition S4, BBM for iOS, and a new Nexus 7?

Welcome to the second of our weekly round-ups of news in the mobile industry. It's the place to keep up to speed on the smaller news stories, updated rumours, special network deals, plus the occasional quirky news story. There's also a bit of opinion thrown in too from time to time, but it's your thoughts that we value the most, so please get involved in the comments below! Samsung Ga...

Pudding Monsters gets 25 new levels and fresh gameplay mechanics in iOS and Android update

Cut the Rope developer ZeptoLab has added 25 new puzzle-packed levels to the iPhone, iPad, and Android versions of its Bronze Award-winning puzzler Pudding Monsters. Across these fresh levels, you have to help the Pudding Monsters climb mountains, traverse the great outdoors, reach high up into the sky, and collect as many stars as they possibly can. Like most of ZeptoLab's updates, this ref...

Where's My Water? Allie DLC guide - Tips, hints, and walkthrough inside

Meet Allie: a music-loving croc, and the new heroine of Disney's hydrocentric puzzler Where's My Water? She's the star of a new pack of downloadable content, which is unsurprisingly entitled Allie's Story. In each Allie Story level, you'll need to redirect some steam to Allie's room in order to turn on her steam-powered organ. This downloadable pack of levels contains some tough puzzles, som...

Abra-Ca-Bacon: The Angry Birds Seasons guide

Can't get enough Angry Birds? Wish you could hurl disgruntled fowl at thieving piggies while simultaneously celebrating international holidays? Well, you're in luck, because Rovio has bundled the iconic images of numerous yearly hols - from Halloween to Christmas - into bonus batches of Angry Birds levels. It's called Angry Birds Seasons. In the latest update to this game, Rovio ditches the ...

Jump behind the wheel in Bronze Award-winning Table Top Racing for free

Developer Playrise Digital (the new home of WipEout lead designer Nick Burcombe) has slashed the price of its Bronze Award-winning drive-'em-up Table Top Racing to free. If you're expecting Table Top Racing to be filled with futuristic anti-gravity aircrafts and tracks based in space-age cities, you may be disappointed when you play it. It's actually full of upgradeable Micro Machines-esque ...

[Update] Think you've got what it takes to beat our resident gaming god Gamer X at Fruit Ninja?

Gamer X is back with another challenge for you. A multi-disciplined master gamer - whose identity remains a closely guarded secret - Gamer X sets a ridiculously high score on Game Center every month in an iOS game of his / her / its choosing. The enigmatic Gamer X then challenges you - yes, you! - to best that aforementioned high score. If you manage to rise to the challenge, you may walk aw...

Review: Samsung Galaxy S4

What could Samsung have realistically stuffed into the Galaxy S4, to make it anything more than an evolutionary upgrade of the Galaxy S3? Because the GS3 was a cutting edge phone, and it still sells a year on. Instead, Samsung has spent most of its time working on making that phone just a bit better. A bit more compact, with a bit bigger screen and resolution, a bit better camera and making ...

Abra-Ca-Bacon: Angry Birds Seasons 3-star video walkthroughs for 2-1 to 2-15

Angry Birds Seasons lets you lob birds at pigs while simultaneously celebrating international holidays. In the latest update to this game, Rovio ditches the seasonal celebrations and holiday-themed level packs in favour of something completely fresh. This time, you see, we're at the circus, and the levels are based on magic and illusions. The Abra-Ca-Bacon update contains 36 new stages, most...

Abra-Ca-Bacon: Angry Birds Seasons 3-star video walkthroughs for 1-1 to 1-15

Angry Birds Seasons lets you lob birds at pigs while simultaneously celebrating international holidays. In the latest update to this game, Rovio ditches the seasonal celebrations and holiday-themed level packs in favour of something completely fresh. This time, you see, we're at the circus, and the levels are based on magic and illusions. The Abra-Ca-Bacon update contains 36 new stages, most...

Find out whether Captain Kirk is 'better' than a Nibiru child in Star Trek Rivals for iOS

There was a time when all tie-in games for blockbuster movies were rancid third-person shooters or annoyingly simple side-scrolling platformers. Thankfully, though, developers on the App Store have put an end to that sad state of affairs. So, yeah, action-packed cinematic epics are now being turned into boring multiplayer card games instead. Hmmm. Whereas the Fast & Furious 6 game release...

Has Proto Man gone rogue?

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Gamers are now reportedly spending more dough on smartphone and tablet games than on traditional handheld games

According to the second edition of the ongoing quarterly AppAnnie & IDC Portable Gaming Report, the amount of money spent on gaming on iOS devices has overtaken the amount spent on traditional portable gaming systems for the very first time. I know. Revenue from gaming-related sales on Android is still just below revenue from dedicated handheld gaming sales, though that's likely to have chan...

Cause some 'portal mayhem' in our Angry Birds competition and win some amazing prizes

After much anticipation, the Abra-Ca-Bacon update for Angry Birds Seasons is now live on the App Store and Google Play. In this free update, Rovio adds a whole series of new levels that feature wormholes (or "portals", if you like). Using these magical portals, you can zip your irritated avians from one end of a level to another instantly. In partnership with Rovio, we're offering you the...

Hidden Gems: 150 great iOS games that you forgot existed [121-150]

This is the fifth instalment in a five-part series looking at 150 hidden iOS gems. The mathematicians among you will have already worked out that 150 divided by five is 30. That's why there are 30 entries in this instalment. Click on the following hyperlinks for Volumes I, II, III, and IV. In the five weeks it's taken us to publish this five-part serial unearthing more than 150 hidden gems of t..

Pocket Gamer iPhone and iPad gaming podcast: Episode 226 - The Game Center, The Flintstones, The United States of America

With world-renowned troublemakers Jon Jordan and James Gilmour away, it's left to muggins here to steer the good ship Pocket Gamer through the tumultuous waves of podcast chat. Or something. Happily, though, my deckmate Keith is alongside me here on the bridge of the ship. On our travels today, we swing past North America to pick up super-special guest, and JRPG expert, Matt Diener. He...

Fresh update to The Simpsons: Tapped Out contains new playable character and three new buildings

EA has decided it's high time to update The Simpsons: Tapped Out, so has just added a familiar face and some new locations to your own personal Springfield. With this update, EA pushes the level cap up to 29, meaning you can expand your town that little bit farther. Furthermore, you can now say 'hello' to everyone's favourite domineering mother, Agnes Skinner. Her tasks are winning at bin...

Review: This is Not a Ball Game

This is Not a Ball Game is a game of two halves. On the one hand, you have an elegant-looking physics puzzler that's full of possibilities and promise. It's a beguiling treat for the eyes, with a charming carnival theme and an alluring soundtrack. On the other hand, it's a poorly designed, infuriating game of missed chances, spell-breaking IAPs, and bad ideas that make you wonder why you eve...

The Animal Crossing: New Leaf Diaries - Day 9

Next month, Nintendo will launch Animal Crossing: New Leaf on the 3DS. The Animal Crossing games have always had you live among a cosmopolitan microcosm of the animal kingdom, and used to leave you to lead a quiet life of luxury; plucking fruit, catching fish, and collecting furniture. But that's all changed. In New Leaf, you're made mayor of the village as soon as you step off the train, an...

Where's My Water? Allie DLC 3-star video walkthrough for Tuning In

Meet Allie: a music-loving croc, and the new heroine of Disney's hydrocentric puzzler Where's My Water? She's the star of a new pack of downloadable content, which is unsurprisingly entitled Allie's Story. In each Allie Story level, you'll need to redirect some steam to Allie's room in order to turn on her steam-powered organ. Stuck? Here's a selection of videos that will expertly steer you ...

Gameloft's N.O.V.A. 3 and Gangstar Rio are now available for free on the App Store

If you're a fan of subtlety and understatement, then you're probably not a fan of Gameloft. If, however, you like explosions, jet packs, and mobile games inspired by console classics, you should definitely read on. That's because Gameloft's excellent N.O.V.A. 3 and not-so-excellent Gangstar Rio: City of Saints are free on the App Store right now. With N.O.V.A. 3, Gameloft has taken it...