No all mobile games hit every country across the world in one fell swoop. Some spend a good while in soft launch, doing the rounds in select regions so the developers can catch any bugs and glitches in their net and zap them ahead of the big, worldwide release.
Keeping a close eye on what’s at this stage in development is a good way of staying up to date with the future iOS and Android classics that are about to land in an app store near you, and here are the most exciting games in soft launch right now.
15. Battlelands Royale
Publisher: Futureplay
Available On: iOS & Android (Finland, Poland, Ukraine)
Battle royale is all the rage on mobile right now, so it comes as no surprise than another developer has stepped up to put its own stamp on the concept. Futureplay’s Badlands Royale is a casul entry to the genre in which players fight to the death with 23 others in a gradually-shrinking arena. Snap it up now if you’re in Poland, Finland or the Ukraine.
14. Emerge!
Publisher: Gram Games
Available On: iOS (Australia, Canada, Denmark, Netherlands, New Zealand)
There’s nothing like a simple, addictive puzzler to kill time when life throws a waiting room stay or a public transport journey at you. Emerge! is a new one from Gram Games and it promises a gentle learning curve and fiendishly compelling match-up gameplay.
13. Card Smash: Tribes at War
Publisher: Heavyweight Rex
Available On: Australia, Netherlands, Ireland, Finland, Philippines, India
Card Smash: Tribes at War is a mobile card battler made by a developer that sounds like a boxing dinosaur. Heavyweight Rex’s iOS exclusive challenges you to build the ultimate deck, scale the leaderboard and make your mark on a world where tribes are forever at war.
12. Diamond Diaries Saga
Publisher: King
Available On: Android (Argentina, Portugal, Spain, Mexico, Poland)
When it comes to colourful puzzle games, King really lives up to its name. The Candy Crush studio is back with another infectious casual game that challenges players to match objects by colour. Diamond Diaries Saga is available now in Argentina, Portugal, Spain, Mexico and Poland.
11. Rocky Horror: Touch Me
Publisher: Rocket Lolly Games
Available On: iOS & Android (Denmark, Ireland, Sweden)
Rhythm-action gets a Rocky Horror twist in Rocket Lolly Games’ Rocky Horror: Touch Me. With a swipe to the left and a tap to the right, you can star in your own version of Richard O’Brien’s hit musical and dance along to its most iconic tracks.
10. Quantum Siege
Publisher: Armada Interactive
Available On: iOS (Philippines, Malaysia, Canada, Qatar, Australia, Romania, Singapore, Ireland, Finland, United Arab Emirates, Iceland)
Sci-fi strategy Quantum Siege has you directing an army on an intergalactic battlefield, commanding all kinds of high-tech units from a top-down perspective. There are daily story missions and a fleshed-out multiplayer mode to keep space cadets busy for a good while.
9. League of Dragons
Publisher: Social Point
Available On: iOS & Android (Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Columbia, Mexico, Peru)
It sounds like something from Game of Thrones, but League of Dragons is actually a cute, colourful MOBA-style offering for iOS and Android devices. Collect dragons, spells and special moves in the form of cards and then stick it to rival fire breathers in PvP contests.
8. Tom Clancy’s ShadowBreak
Publisher: Ubisoft
Available On: iOS & Android (Canada, Australia, Spain, Mexico, Brazil)
Tom Clancy is sadly no longer with us, but his legacy is alive and well in gaming because Ubisoft’s keeps churning out titles with his name on them. Tom Clancy’s ShadowBreak is the latest of them, and it’s basically battle royale with sniper rifles, console-quality 3D graphics and stacks of eSports potential.
7. Might & Magic: Elemental Guardians
Publisher: Ubisoft
Available On: iOS & Android (Australia, Canada, Philippines, Singapore)
Ubisoft has several impressive looking mobile games in soft launch right now, and most of them are franchise fodder. Might & Magic: Elemental Guardians is a squad battler entry to the long-running fantasy series, in which players assemble teams of five heroes, kit them out and pit them against waves upon waves of enemies.
6. Temple Run: Treasure Hunters
Publisher: Scopely
Available On: iOS & Android (Australia, Philippines)
There isn’t much running involved in the latest entry in the Temple Run series. Treasure Hunters is a spinoff which sees the franchise make strides into match-3 puzzler territory, and you can plunder it right now if you happen to live in Australia or the Philippines.
5. Guardians: A Torchlight Game
Publisher: Perfect World Games
Available On: iOS (Australia)
Action-RPG series Torchlight has been scaled down for mobile devices, but Guardians: A Torchlight Game strives to offer something close to the full-fat experience PC players have been enjoying for more than a decade. There’s dungeon crawling aplenty, weird and wonderful pets to rear and co-op to sink your teeth into.
4. Quest Hunter
Publisher: 2 Zombie Games
Available On: iOS (Canada, Australia)
Quest Hunter is more than just another PC RPG that has made the leap to iOS devices. Sure, there’s randomly-generated dungeons, skill trees to climb and all that jazz, but its sharp narrative focus really sets it apart from the competition.
3. Sdorica
Publisher: Rayark International Ltd
Available On: iOS & Android (Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore)
Rayark International’s Sdorica whisks players away to a rich fantasy world where they’ll be solving puzzles one minute and taking on role-playing challenges the next. Still not convinced? You will be after you’ve feasted your eyes on the stunning animation this one boasts.
2. Monopoly Towns
Publisher: Backflip Studios
Available On: iOS & Android (Hungary, Netherlands, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa)
The board game that made tophats and irons trendy has spawned a mobile spinoff in the shape of Monopoly Towns, a game which throws everything from its source material out, besides the town-building aspects. It’s basically an accessible take on the Sim City formula with heightened social elements and no risk of going to jail.
1. Space Pioneer
Publisher: Vivid Games
Available On: iOS & Android (Philippines, Malaysia)
Space Pioneer is an RPG which casts players as an intergalactic bounty hunter, and that means what you think it does: there’s ample opportunities to shoot aliens in the face. There’s substance on offer too, as exploration and discovering new worlds will also be high on your agenda, though not quite as high as gunning down anything that looks at you funny.
