Something big this way comes. The highly anticipated blockbuster, Pacific Rim, will make the jump to iOS and Android devices in the form of a mobile game courtesy of Reliance Games, where players take control of *bleep* (we tend to keep things PG here) robots known as Jaegers to protect cities from Kaijus, aliens that look like they are part of Godzilla’s extended family. Check out the really awesome screenshots along with the press release below:

Reliance Games, a leading international developer and publisher of mobile games, is bringing the sci-fi action-adventure Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures Pacific Rim to mobile devices. Based on the Guillermo del Toro directed film coming to theaters July 12, 2013, the Pacific Rim mobile game tasks players with protecting the world’s most famous cities from the Kaijus, monstrous aliens that have risen from the seas to destroy humanity.

Commanding a giant Jaeger robot, players can hone their skills in a story mode that will take their Jockey from rookie to ace, building up lethal combos and discovering new weapons and technology to give them an edge against the Kaijus. Upgraded Jaegers can also be used in survival mode, challenging players to beat back the alien menace and keep the world safe for as long as they can.

“Pacific Rim the mobile game will extend Guillermo del Toro’s epic adventure beyond the theater screen and into the pockets of gamers around the world,” Joel Chiodi, EVP of Theatrical Marketing at Legendary. “Reliance Games’ has developed an entertaining mobile game that matches the action-packed power of the film.”

“Working with Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures continues our history of partnering with the most influential names in the entertainment world,” commented Manish Agarwal, CEO of Reliance Games. “With the Pacific Rim mobile game, we are drawing from deep experience to create a thrilling standalone component to the Pacific Rim brand that will wow mobile gamers and film fans alike.”

Cubemen 2. It stands as one of our favourite indie games on Steam this year. The game presented an interesting twist to the Tower Defense formula, and topped it up with a really cool UI which lent itself well to skinning and theming. The folks at 3 Sprockets announced today that the game is now available through the Mac App Store and iOS App Store for devices including the iPad (2+), iPad Mini, iPhone (4+) and iPod Touch (4+). Check out the press release below and be sure to read our review of the Mac version of the game right over here:

Indie development studio, 3 Sprockets today announced that Cubeman 2 is now available through the Mac App Store and iOS App Store for devices including the iPad (2+), iPad Mini, iPhone (4s+) and iPod Touch (4+) for the limited time launch price of $1.99. Featuring more of the addictive gameplay and unique features that made the original 3D strategy action game a cult smash on its release in 2012, Cubemen 2 is a fast paced, action packed, original 3D Strategy game where you use your little Cubemen units to defend and attack enemies in a range of awesome game modes including CTF, Skirmish, Territory and more.

“Cubemen became a cult smash when we originally launched on iOS and Mac in 2012 – the sequel brings many new features, modes and challenges into the mix”, said Seon Rozenblum, Director of 3 Sprockets, “We now support phones as well as tablets and all platforms are on perfect feature parity, which is super exciting for us.”

Based around the age-old struggle of Good vs. Evil, Blue vs. Red and Little Men vs. Little Men, Cubemen 2 tasks players to use their Cubemen units strategically to defend and attack enemies in a range of game modes. Up to six players can battle in cross-platform, multi-player carnage with nine specialised unit types, including new units such as path blockers, mines and freeze lightning. Gamers can also customize their Cubemen units with all-new skins and play as Cowboys, Knights, Luchadores and more!

For those preferring a single-player experience, Cubemen 2 offers two unique game modes specifically for single-player, in addition to the first of many Campaign modes. All game modes have online rankings so that players can see how they measure up against the world’s best. Additionally, Cubemen 2 offers a user-friendly built in level editor that lets players create and share their levels with players around the globe. Levels can be themed in a range of superb skins and are stored locally for easy access even when players are offline.

Check out the game over here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cubemen2/id630327401?mt=8

Today Jason Citron, founder of OpenFeint, is revealing an early look at Fates Forever – the first game from his tablet-only company, Hammer & Chisel. Fates Forever is a reinterpretation of the world’s most popular hardcore game, League of Legends, reimagined as tablet-only. Designed solely to be experienced on tablets, not smartphones or PCs, the game employs unique mechanics never before used in the genre. For the first time, players will be able to literally touch their heroes and execute fun and visceral special moves not possible with a keyboard and mouse.

“I love hardcore games and I love mobile games – a space I’ve been involved with since day one,” said Citron, founding craftsman of Hammer & Chisel. “I’ve been watching the next-gen consoles floundering while most people are buying and spending time on tablets. I really want to show the world what a great game in the post-PC era looks like.”

Hammer & Chisel’s goal is to be the Blizzard of the post-PC era. To do this, the company is creating a hardcore gaming experience designed exclusively for tablets. Fates Forever combines respectful, modern monetization techniques with traditional, deep game design. The game takes advantage of the unique characteristics of touchscreens and pushes the limits of what’s possible on a tablet. For example, one character’s special move is triggered using a swipe mechanic. Another character uses flicking gestures to activate its special moves.

Citron believes that touchscreen devices, especially tablets, are replacing consoles as the primary medium for strategic and competitive gaming. The game developer community is following Citron in his post-PC ambitions. In a poll taken during the 2013 Game Developers Conference last March, 58 percent of gaming professionals said they plan to release their next game on a tablet or smartphone. About 11 percent said they’d develop on the Xbox One and around the same amount intend to develop on the PlayStation 4.

Hammer & Chisel was first announced last July when it closed $1.1 million in funding from top Silicon Valley investors including YouWeb, Accel Partners, and General Catalyst Partners. For the past year Citron and team have been building Fates Forever from the ground up, and intend to launch this summer.

We last covered Double Jungle’s bizarre iPad puzzle game, Gua-Le-Ni; or, The Horrendous Parade (yup, that’s the title right there), back in November 2011. A year and a half after its release, the devs have brought about an important update to the game, making it a universal app which runs on the iPhone as well.

The iPhone version of the game sports reworked proportions of several game elements, simplified controls and the devs made sure the game ran a little slower. Their reasoning: “This way you will to be able to blow away impossible paper beasts even when commuting, when going to the toilet or even when your boring friends are having THAT conversation again! “

The game is available for USD 0.99 on the iTunes App Store, check it out over here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/gua-le-ni/id423352177?mt=8

From June 3rd to June 10th G5 Entertainment is giving away the award winning hidden object adventure game, Special Enquiry Detail: The Hand that Feeds for iOS. Since its initial launch, Special Enquiry Detail: The Hand that Feeds has won a series of prominent awards and has been downloaded by millions of players worldwide on all key platforms. Now players have an opportunity to enjoy this high quality detective investigation at no cost to them.

Special Enquiry Detail: The Hand that Feeds is an intriguing tale of murder and corruption. In the game you follow two detectives, newly assigned to the SED, as they investigate the death of young Carmody Phelps. Nobody in her life, it seems, is above suspicion; her parents, her ex-boyfriend, even her best friend from school, all seem to be hiding something. You’ll follow detectives as they track down leads and process evidence. In addition to finding clues like Carmody’s diary and stray bullets, you’ll have to interview witnesses and suspects; make sure you pay attention to what they say, because you’ll need that information to solve puzzles later in the game.

The scenery in each of 30 locations is so realistic that even the most subtle nuances come to life: specks of dust, flies in the room and even coffee fuming in the Big Boss’ cup. Use items in your inventory in order to solve each of 25 puzzle mini games. Pay attention to what you are told – even the smallest detail could solve this murder!

This game can be played over and over: hidden evidence appears in alternate locations on consecutive play sessions. Completing all the 12 chapters unlocks the “Find All” mode, allowing you to return to all locations and explore them once again. The game is developed and published on iOS by G5 Entertainment under license from Floodlight Games. Check out the game over at:

• https://itunes.apple.com/app/id435101935?mt=8
• https://itunes.apple.com/app/id435102741?mt=8

Hmm…. that escalated pretty quickly. I found myself dropping that comment while playing Crazy Cricket’s latest retro-inspired iOS title, The Tapping Dead. It’s like this: imagine the original Mario Bros (the one on the NES with Mario and Luigi exterminating those bunch of tortoises in the sewers), but with your in-game character is moving automatically and the only thing you can control is when and where to stop (basically by tapping and holding on the screen).

Instead of you have a bunch of zombies running around the levels, and while these can temporarily impede you on your way to the exit in each level, you need to be careful not to get into contact with them, since for obvious reasons you’ll lose a life every time that happens (it gets even worse, but more on that later). You may have noticed the remark that I made earlier and if you have deduced that this game is crazy difficult, you have performed admirably, you modern-day Sherlock.

Knowing when and where to stop is a matter of great importance in The Tapping Dead. Most often I found myself hanging around the myriad of ladders in each of the levels, watching zombie zipping by in shopping carts, before deciding it was safe to get moving. Why this fuss, you ask, since in most games, this will just result in loss of (virtual) life and a restart? Well, the guys at Crazy Cricket took a page out of Candy Crush Saga when it comes to continues….

Yup, you read that right.  Once you run out of lives, you can a. wait a certain duration to get a fresh attempt at the game, or use up your coins to purchase a life. Oh by the way, coins are either earned through playing (good luck with obtaining it this way, since the game is frigging tough), or via good-old-in-app-purchase (the developers got to eat too you know).

I play Candy Crush Saga and never paid a dime for continues, so I’m quite OK about the whole thing, but I know of others who chaff at the thought of paying to immediately continue playing a game. If you belong in that camp, no amount of talk about the rather awesom retro graphics (in fact, the levels kinda remind me of a nightmarish Tiny Tower) and the fun/easy to learn/sadistic gameplay will not persuade you to try out the game.

Those with an open mind however, will find a gem that fits the cliche, easy to learn, hard to master. Nine Over Ten 9/10 rates The Tapping Dead at a 4 out of 5. You can check out the game over at https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/the-tapping-dead/id637724301?mt=8, it’s available for FREE on the iTunes App Store.

A review code was provided to Nineoverten.com for the purpose of this review.

You don’t need the voice behind the YouTube sensation Honest Trailers to make this sound awesome: “From the mind of Tetris creator, Alexey Pajitnov, comes a brand new puzzle game made exclusively for mobile devices, Alexey’s Challenge: Marbly.” Yup, Mr. Tetris is back in search of a brand new hit title and this time he has paired up with WildSnake Software. This collaboration will see a series of mobile games released starting with Marbly.

In Marbly, players move the marbles to build a line of three or more matching marbles at every goal. In order to solve one of the 180+ unique puzzles available in-game, players will need to clear all the marbles from the board. There are several game modes available in Marbly: Time Challenge, Score Challenge, and Moves Challenge, among other things. As an incentive to play on, players get to earn coins to unlock additional sets of puzzles and challenges.

Sounds interesting? Indeed it does. The game is available for FREE on the iTunes App Store, so be sure to check it out over here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/marbly/id646308179?mt=8

In conjunction with Children’s Day on June 1st, Paul Freitas has made his kids colouring book app for the iPad, Pictus, free for the entire weekend. The app has been downloaded more than 75,000 times and comes with 270 pictures and multiple tools to draw and colour with.

Check it out over here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id575723176.

The folks at Spacetime Studios certainly deserve a pat on their backs. I remember playing their first MMORPG for the iPhone, Pocket Legends, which was probably the first 3D MMORPG on smartphones. The company has since released Star Legends, Dark Legends, and Arcane Legends, and when combined together have been downloaded more than 20 million times.

This has resulted in the games amassing more than 250 million play sessions! Just check out the infographic above for some mind-boggling numbers and I’ve got no doubt PC and console game makers would kill to have these numbers . According to their press release, Spacetime players also log engagement far above industry average, spending more than twice the number of hours playing Legends titles than the average gamer spends across all mobile games in a month.

The typical Spacetime player spends an average of 33.5 hours per month on Spacetime’s titles, almost 3 times as much as the average iOS player’s total monthly gameplay and four times more than Android players. iPhones players spend about 12.3 hours per month across all games while Android players spend around 8 hours per month on average according to Arbition Mobile.

“A quarter of a billion play sessions is a significant milestone, but what really excites us is the engagement,” said Gary Gattis, CEO, Spacetime Studios. “Spacetime’s players have logged more than 7000 years of game play. That is longer than recorded history!”

Most often a person is judged by the company he or she keeps, and in terms of Deadpool and his new game, I would say he is pretty awesome. You know why? He has the likes of Wolverine (yup, everyone’s favourite Canuck goes Snickt! in Deadpool’s game), Deathlok (futuristic killer cyborg from where else, the future), Psylocke (oh hell yeah), Domino (double hell yeah) and Rogue (triple hell yeah) to keep him company.

Check out Wolverine’s profile along with the official covers for the game which will be coming for the Xbox 360, Sony PS3 and the PC this June 25th, and is rated M (Mature) by the ESRB. Check out what Deadpool has to say about Wolverine being in his game:

Dear Wolverine: I guess, when put aside the grand history of human conflict and suffering, the lame tank tops you insist on wearing sometimes aren’t THAT bad, bub.

Looking forward to working with you,
Deadpool