GAMES OF THE WEEK - The 5 best new mobile games for iOS and Android - October 15th 2020
It's that time again! Time for another entry into our long-running GAMES OF THE WEEK series.
If you're looking for the best 5 games which have hit the iPhone, iPad or Android stores this week then you've landed yourself at the exact right place at just the right time. Lucky, lucky you.
With this article, we skirt around the droves of subscription services (Apple Arcade, Google Play Pass, GameClub, Hatch, and all of their friends) which have launched onto mobile platforms over the years. We also don't factor in things like Steam Link or Google Stadia which allow streaming to handheld devices - and would open up this list to almost every game under the sun.
What that means is that our list is a finely curated list of brilliant, fresh titles which you can download and play without subscribing to, or installing, any third-party initiative. Of course, there are some great games on those services, but, let's focus on the stuff that you can grab right now.
This week you'll be solving a series of mind-boggling puzzles, uncovering mysteries in narrative-driven adventures, enjoying a spot of solitaire meets match-3 and stealing treasure as an immortal thief.
Remember, if you're looking to check through some of our previous selections then you can always do that at our Games of The Week Hub, it's a great way to find games to fill out that empty storage space on your phone. Or, if you like your news in bitesize chunks, delivered straight to your palm then maybe follow us on Twitter or join our Discord.
Anyway, without any further delay, click on the big, blue button below to find out more about what we believe to be the top five of the games which released on mobile over the last week.
Lineweight
Lineweight is a narrative-driven text adventure game that oozes style in its presentation – check it out in the embedded trailer below. If you enjoy design and typography that might be enough of a reason by itself to dive into the game. Beyond that, if you crave emotive stories then Lineweight definitely has plenty to offer. Each of its five chapters looks to explore the human condition, telling stories that are taken from real life.
Lineweight is available now on Google Play and will be heading for the App Store in November. The first chapter is free whilst the rest of the game costs $2.99.
Poor Thief
If you're looking for some puzzling action then you might want to check out Poor Thief. It sees you taking on the role of an immortal thief who's looking to collect treasure, dying as many times as it takes to snag the loot. Our reviewer Jon Bitner gave the game a bronze rating and whilst he felt the quality across the levels wavered somewhat, he found there were still plenty of great moments.
Poor Thief is available now over on the App Store and will be heading to Google Play soon. It's a free-to-play game.
unmemory
Unmemory is another stellar narrative-driven game that sees players taking on the role of a protagonist with a rare form of memory loss. They're on the hunt for the person who murdered their girlfriend and will have to pour through notes, pictures, recorded messages and solve puzzles to decipher who the offender is. The mystery unravels over 8 chapters and roughly 8 hours of gameplay.
Unmemory is available now over on the App Store and Google Play for $3.99
Suit-Up
Match-3 puzzlers are hardly in short supply on mobile, I realise that. But it's still an incredibly fun and satisfying genre when it's not littered with endless prompts to buy additional energy, currency or some other form of in-app purchase. Suit-Up blends the familiar match-3 setup with solitaire in a delightfully presented way. It's a great little time waster and isn't that what both match-3's and solitaire were invented for in the first place?
Suit-Up is available on the App Store for free.
Girabox
Last but not least we have Girabox, a puzzler from Conradical Games. It has a pleasant minimalist design aesthetic that you'll be rotating to move a little box to a designated location. It sounds very simple but Girabox plays with this concept in several interesting and mind-boggling ways that may see the level you're currently moving become the next box you have to move. It's interesting stuff.
Girabox is available now over on the App Store and Google Play for $1.99.