The Update Update: Flashout 3D, Letterpress, and more

Gaming historians believe that there was once an age when developers didn't update their games. Instead, video game makers just released their products and that was it.

Sounds fairly unlikely to me. I mean, how did they fix all the bugs? Checkmate, historians. I await your response.

In this more 'enlightened' age, though, our Android and iOS games are patched more heavily and more frequently than a repenting chain smoker.

So, to help you keep up with the gaming firmware update deluge, we'll be bringing you a weekly round-up of noteworthy new levels, characters, and bug fixes for iOS and 'droid games, as well as the weirdest and silliest patch notes going.

Right, let's get this patch party started...

Skylanders Lost Islands
By Vicarious Visions - download free on iPhone and iPad

At the end of Pocket Gamer's review of the toy-based world builder Skylanders Lost Islands, we criticised the game's lack of social functionality.

Despite that oversight on the part of Vicarious Visions, Spyro and chums made off with a coveted Gold Award.

Well, guess what? Yep, the latest update includes said social features.

So, you can now earn gems by joining up with friends and sending them gifts, for example, or perhaps you'll pay a visit to your chums' islands and "deliver party invitations".

Flashout 3D
By Jujubee Games Studio - buy now on iPhone and iPad or buy now on Android

Short and sweet, this one.

First off, Jujubee's WipEout-esque arcade racer has been optimised for improved performance.

More interestingly, though, the Jujubee mechanics appear to have added something called a "brake" to your craft. Back in a moment...

Hmmm. According to Wikipedia, this "brake" thing is something you use to slow down a vehicle. I thought the point of racing is to go as fast as possible? Baffling.

Dummy Defense
By Andrew Garrison - buy now on iPhone and iPad or buy now on Android

Dummy Defense is a kind of Angry Birds in reverse.

In Andrew Garrison's game, then, you build a structure to protect Melvin the crash test dummy from bombs, giant hammers, asteroids, and more.

The game was a little bit, err, slim on release, but version 1.4 builds on previous updates by including the beta version of a sandbox mode.

Getting at it is a bit of an arcane process, but it's a much appreciated feature nonetheless.

Expand It!
By FDG Entertainment - buy now on iPhone or on Pad

New levels are food and drink to The Update Update.

This week's provider of firmware sustenance is Expand It!, which, appropriately enough, is getting expanded to the tune of 15 new levels.

Given this is a physics-puzzler we're talking about, the Fireworks level pack contains lots of exploding things, bright colours, and loud noises.

This is always a good thing.

Letterpress - Word Game
By atebits - download free on iPhone and iPad

Letterpress is one of the best vocab puzzlers on iOS. Trust me.

Brilliant to see it's just received an update, then. Even if I think that someone at atebits is taking the mick.

Here, as evidence, are some of the patch notes for the latest version of Letterpress:

• "Adjust bouncies"
• "Fix wiggle-squishies"
• "Fix zombie games. Maybe. You never know with zombies."

I think someone is after a coveted Pocket Gamer Patch Note of the Week Award.

So...

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PG's Patch Notes of the Week Awards

This week's runner-up is:

Letterpress - Word Game: "Una cosa súper secreta. (¡Que bueno Español Lorenzo! Ah gracias Lorenzo, me recuerdo de escuela. Los pantalones es mucho grande.)"

This week's winner is:

Letterpress - Word Game: "Updated dictionary. ORTHOLOGY, dawg."