Do you really need a Pal during the apocalypse (yes, you do), who is The Sassy JRPG Hater, and have we just irrevocably angered FF7 fans with our discussion on Healing Materia? The (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast offers both fast news and chaotic insights in this week's episode with the three of us back in.
Will very dramatically takes us into the 12th annual Pocket Gamer Awards nominations, which are now open until mid-November. This means if you fancy seeing your fave picks up there, let your voice (or vote) be heard by filling in the nomination form!
Then, you can dabble in a little bit of eldritch horror in Asphalt Legends Unite, where Iwan gives us the details on the popular racer's Cthulhu crossover event. And to continue with all the leftover Halloween spooks, Bendy and the Ink Machine is the Epic Games Store freebie of the week, so you can go ahead and creep yourself out with horrific mascots and cursed, abandoned lairs.
Iwan and Will talk a bit about the circumstances surrounding the Epic Games Store's free games program, before we segue into the equally horrific world of Once Human collaborating with the not-so-horrific world of Palworld. While the crossover might seem odd at first glance, it actually does make sense given the nature of the gameplay, so if you're curious about how your Pals can help you survive the apocalypse, now's your chance.
Then, we move on to the sad news of Squad Busters unfortunately getting shuttered next year, which definitely comes as a surprise given it's been fully launched and not in soft-launch as opposed to other games Supercell previously shut down. Iwan gives us the lowdown on the comings and goings in the biz behind the scenes for a bit before Will launches into an inspirational speech complete with motivational music on how he believes in Supercell - and perhaps we all should too.
And finally, we cap off the episode with Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis' crossover with Final Fantasy XIII, in which we might've angered some FF7 fans by pondering the intricacies of Healing Materia and Aerith's popularity in the midst of it all (but not before we meet Iwan's alter-ego, The Sassy JRPG Hater).
Alucard - er, Iwan - welcomes you all to a very special episode of the (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast, where we talk about our favourite (and by "our", I mean Will and Iwan) horror and horror-adjacent games on mobile this Halloween.
After a twisted intro involving thunder and some chaotic Castlevania callbacks, we (almost) waste no time in diving right into the horror of it all with Vampire’s Fall 2, a gothic fantasy RPG that Will had to talk over Iwan to recommend to us first.
And because Iwan is apparently too young to have played Diablo I, he swiftly moves on to what he swears is one of the greatest games of all time, Alien: Isolation. It's also a bit of a technical marvel given it was released on mobile four years ago, but before Iwan can wax poetic about how this made the Xenomorphs terrifying again, he gives a special shoutout to Phobies for Stephen's sake.
It's supposed to have all these creatures that are embodiments of fears (I do present a theory I read somewhere about Lippy that Stephen may or may not debunk), and because that's incredibly creepy, Will eases us into Candies n' Curses, which, on the tier list of horror levels, is comfortably categorised under "something even Cat can play".
Sadly, because this is supposed to be a short one, we wrap up the episode with one game we (and again, by "we", I mean Will and Iwan) wish would make the leap to mobile. Iwan picks House of the Dead for all its brain-eating action, while Will picks The Binding of Isaac as he believes it's also something "Cat can play".
And in true podcast fashion, we bid adieu by leaving you with the image of the Saja Boys from KPop Demon Hunters barging into your room in the middle of the night - truly the stuff of nightmares.
What does a creepy cat and a creepy cafe have in common (hint: they're creepy), and why are we talking all things cursed in this episode? The (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast is a two-player back-and-forth this week as Will and I discuss everything from Cinderella's crops to a speedy hedgehog in a car.
Will dives straight into Play Together's Halloween update, where said cursed farms and spectral princesses abound, and as we talk about the oddities of monsters popping up all over Kaia Island, we also ponder the mysteries of just why Cinderella might be cursing an entire town with nightmare veggies.
Speaking of cursed critters, Escape Game: Cat and Cafe is, at first glance, supposed to be a relaxing puzzler where you cosy up with a cute cat and a lovely little cafe - but honestly, with the way the visuals are presented and the mystery of this odd "escape game", it looks more like there's some form of impending doom just lurking around the corner or bubbling beneath the surface here. It's entirely free to play though, so if you're curious, you can give it a go and see for yourself (or we might just be overthinking things and it really is just a puzzler about a cafe and a cat).
Moving on to more festive news, Bleach: Brave Souls is celebrating its 10th anniversary with a cool offline event where the OG voice cast will be doing live readings next month, as well as a bunch of freebies within the RPG itself. Everyone's favourite blue hedgehog is also a testament to long-running franchises, which is how we segue into Sonic Rumble and its release window next month.
We talk a bit about how multiplayer Sonic games have never really taken off - mainly because there's one that actually put Sonic in a car - but with any luck, this new Stumble Guys-esque adventure will be just the thing to kick off the genre.
And finally, we end the episode with a bang by announcing that nominations for the 12th Pocket Gamer Awards are now open! You can nominate your faves across a variety of categories, so if, like me, you love Shogun Showdown's roguelike card battles, or, like Will, you fancy Super Farming Boy's quirky anti-capitalism charm, then this is your chance to flaunt your fandom.
How can walking heal your soul, and how much time does Iwan have left on this week's episode? The (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast tackles pay-to-win mechanics, stressful jobs, and free games this week.
With Iwan back from a death-defying sabbatical from the park, he kicks things off with Dragon Ball: Gekishin Squadra, which is making welcome balance tweaks to its 4v4 Team Battles to keep things spicy for its community of players.
We then keep the "action" going with the launch of Blue Protocol: Star Resonance, which might just be the best action RPG on mobile, according to Shaun's very positive experience with it. Most notably, it's interesting how this one seems to be veering away from the typical pay-to-win gacha mechanics in favour of giving you the option to pay for cosmetics instead, which is something we might also see with upcoming projects like Ananta and Duet Night Abyss.
On to even more exciting developments in the mobile space, Square Enix has surprise-dropped what they're calling a "New Dissidia Final Fantasy" project that's apparently going to be a Team Boss Battle Arena. Mum's the word at the moment though, but despite the developers breaking our hearts and trampling them to the ground with all of their previous mobile shutdowns, we're still pretty excited and willing to get burned yet again when the time comes.
But to help us wait it out until then, Iwan brings good tidings in the form of the Epic Games freebie of the week, which is the Double Dragon Trilogy. Interestingly enough, it also has a mobile-optimised difficulty option, which brings us to the topic of touchscreens, wonky controls, and a throwback to Iwan's review of the CRKD Atom.
Speaking of wonkiness, the spelling for 1f y0u're a gh0st ca11 me here might be all over the place simply because the calls you're answering here are similarly chaotic. The visual novel is out now if you want to stress yourself out as an Underworld call centre agent.
To de-stress before the episode ends (with a special shoutout to The Very Big Indie Pitch at Pocket Gamer Helsinki!), Will takes us through the path of Monster Walk, which is out now to help you keep up your fitness while healing the world and yourself.
Or, you can always just fight other people with your monsters while you're out and about - that's totally fine too.
Last week saw the Pocket Gamer Podcast keeping Will and Iwan in rotation, but I'm swapping in for our resident newshound this time around to talk zombies in card games and toxic gas in meeting rooms.
Will launches right into the spooky season with Marvel Contest of Champions, where the Founders’ War Saga is currently underway. Joining Isophyne, Lumatrix, and Solvarch is the ultimate Eidol Imperiosa, along with Dracula and Franken-Castle just in time for Halloween.
We talk a bit about the clever pun-ness of Frank Castle's Punisher before moving on to an equally Halloween-themed event within Marvel Snap, which is bringing hordes and hordes of the undead to the fray. This ties in with the Marvel Zombies show, and in the card battler, you'll get to see Zombie Scarlet Witch and Headpool in action.
But also also also, did you know that Epic Games Store has been giving away freebies that rotate each week? Will gives us the skinny on Doodle Devil and a free Firestone reward pack, and if you pay close attention to the info on this episode, you might just discover how humans can attain ultimate knowledge from a simple fruit.
Speaking of freebies though, we dive into a closer look at a few games that are trying to break the mould when it comes to monetisation - Ananta and Duet Night Abyss. It's an interesting would-be trend that might just be the so-called "Genshin-killer" people have been buzzing about, because these two are apparently going to try to forego the tried-and-tested gacha monetisation model in favour of paid cosmetics. Whether or not that works in the long run remains to be seen, but it's interesting to see some big players trying to shift things around.
That said, what is free-to-play at the moment is Hello Kitty Merch Match, an adorable match-3 puzzler where you hoard Sanrio-themed merch to clear a board. Honestly, it can't get any better than that. It's out now, and if you're a fan of collecting stuff but you've never had enough shelf space, now's your chance for vindication.
And finally, we leave one more spooky-ish news in the form of Clash of Clans' Revenge Button, where the devs have locked themselves in a meeting room to endure punishments that the community of players have voted on while they go through a Reddit AMA. It's horrendous, it's funny, it's genius.
It's all about the biggest news on Tokyo Game Show this week as the (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast dives deep into deadly sins, anime GTAs, and why mobile should be more of a focus in these kinds of events.
Will kicks things off with The Seven Deadly Sins: Origin, an upcoming open-world RPG with Closed Beta Test sign-ups now open. The Netmarble press conference also included appearances from the voice cast behind main characters Tristan and Tioreh, which all just means that the hype is very much real for this one.
Iwan keeps the ball rolling with the gameplay trailer for Ananta, which covers everything from Arkham-esque takedowns to letting you swing around like your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man across the urban jungle. There's a bit of talk about the implications of "taking inspiration" from a bunch of different stuff, but Iwan remains "tentatively interested" in this one.
That said, inspiration takes shape in the form of Aniimo as Will points out, which is filled with all kinds of creature-collecting, monster-taming, weather-manipulating goodness. Naturally, the Pokemon-Palworld battle comes to mind, which Will kindly sheds light on for anyone who isn't in the know about all the legal jargon.
With all of these dazzling new trailers comes Limit Zero Breakers too, which has teamed up with Mappa (of Jujutsu Kaisen and Chainsaw Man fame) to bring all the animated goodness of the trailer to life. Tougen Anki: Crimson Inferno joins the TGS party as well - mobile has never been bigger, honestly.
Wai Wai World Craft makes a surprise cameo in the episode too, and if you're curious about that, you'll just have to tune in to find out.
Moving on from TGS, Will talks about The Vallis Undermind update in Warframe, where a Fun Guy - er, fungi - makes a special appearance (these two always crack me up). And finally, Angry Birds is making a big comeback to mainland China thanks to a team-up among Rovio, Xiaomi and Kingsoft Shiyou. Iwan being our ever-reliable newshound - who's always privy to all the latest in the biz - gives us a background on what this might mean for the market, before Will rounds it up with an existential question about birds and snakes.
This week sees the (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast gearing up for the spooky season and pondering the meaning of life when it comes to voice casts and cabbages.
After Will proves that he's doing just fine, Iwan launches into a discussion on the latest updates on the new Angry Birds 3 movie cast, while we ponder the intricacies of voice acting and what it means to be a nice guy in Hollywood.
Meanwhile, I lament the tortured fate of the legendary Cabbage Merchant in Avatar Legends: Realms Collide, while Will questions Aang's involvement in it all by recounting the fate of the aforementioned veggie vendor.
Then, Will eases us into the spooky season with Torchlight: Infinite's upcoming The Overrealm update, along with all of the clockwork bosses and biomechanical threats you'll have to face when it kicks off on October 10th.
Iwan then steers the discussion to Apple bringing full-screen gaming to Safari in an upcoming update, which brings us to the question, "What does mobile gaming mean nowadays?" It's an exciting world we live in, most definitely - and it's also going to open up plenty of opportunities for our weekly Off the AppStore feature.
With all this talk of new things on the horizon, we move on to the official launch of Seven Knights Re:BIRTH, which reimagines the popular franchise into a more accessible idle form, much like MU: Pocket Knights.
And finally, we round it all off with Dragonheir: Silent Gods celebrating its 2nd anniversary after its recent relaunch, and in true gamer fashion, we reflect on horse-themed characters and their like just a tad before the episode ends.
The regular crew is back this week with the (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast, with Catherine (me) making a (triumphant?) return to join Will and Iwan for another round of mobile mayhem.
As I'm eager to be back, I get the ball rolling with Mirren: Star Legends, now debuting a new Crunchyroll Login feature to switch up the monetisation for its library of games. We talk a little bit about the different gaming catalogues for these kinds of subscription services, before I gush on and on about Shogun Showdown and my glowing 5-star review.
Will steers the wheel and brings us to the official launch of King of Crabs: Invasion on iOS, while it's still currently in pre-registration for Android users. And in a not-so-surprising reveal, we all share our deep fear of the equally deep sea, mainly because of Subnautica's imminent launch on mobile. Keep Team Pocket Gamer far away from the ocean, is the key takeaway here.
Meanwhile, on other equally stressful things, we talk about the launch of Is This Yours?, a seemingly cosy puzzler about cute animals losing their things. In reality, it's actually incredibly stressful, especially since you'll be helping these careless customers with their stuff under a timer.
We then talk about the perils of working in customer service, before Will turns it around with the adorable launch of I, Slime. Iwan counters with the report that the launch of Final Outpost: Definitive Edition has been pushed back, with a healthy discussion on these types of post-apocalyptic genres and the inevitable zombie outbreak.
Finally, we discuss what it truly means to play an idle game in this busy world we live in today, with Summoners War: Rush launching as a mix of AFK elements and tower defence.
We're getting used to our new format now for the Pocket Gamer Podcast (New and Improved!), with Will and Iwan doing their dynamic duo thing once more this week.
Iwan kicks off the discussion with Tribe Nine getting cancelled after only three months - that's pretty short, and a sad casualty of the saturated mobile market. In the same vein, Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile is being pulled off the App Store and Play Store too - so Will jumps in to give his two cents about all these shutdowns happening left and right.
There is SOME good news, though. Game of Thrones: Kingsroad has officially launched, welcoming you back to the world of Westeros - this time as a scion of noble House Tyre. Netmarble has never been one to shy away from epic franchises, so here's hoping this one does the IP justice.
And speaking of big franchises, Fortnite is back on the App Store in the US - if you're unfamiliar with the big drama between Epic and Apple, Iwan goes into detail on this episode to get you up to speed.
Meanwhile, Will shares his enthusiasm on Mythwalker's new Tethering update, and the pair go on to discuss community-building especially with Pokemon Go's Road Trip 2025. Shenanigans about the implications of trucks, safaris, and gyms ensue, before Will caps off the episode on the pre-registration sign-ups for Destiny: Rising. NetEase has been pretty busy as of late, with Sea of Remnants being teased and Once Human launching on mobile, so it's bound to be a big thing.
It's a special episode of the Pocket Gamer Podcast this week as Cristina joins Will and Iwan on another deep dive into what's hot, what's not, and what's sort-of-sizzling-but-not-quite-yet in the wonderful world of mobile gaming.
This time around, with the short and sweet 30-minute format, Iwan kicks things off with Squad Busters' major overhaul. Aptly called the Hero update, this revamp now lets you rely more on your heroes rather than just your squaddies, making full use of their abilities to win. Will this fresh coat of paint work well with players? Cristina is a tad apprehensive, but I suppose we'll all just have to give it a go and see for ourselves.
Meanwhile, Will is pretty pumped about Chronomon's launch, especially since anything with a -mon attached is always appealing. It's supposedly Stardew Valley mixed in with Pokemon, as what seems to be the trend nowadays.
It's always monster-taming combined with something else, but if it has plenty of cosy vibes, we're all for it - just like Dorfromantik, a new tile-matching puzzler that Cristina is a fan of. It's all very wholesome and is similar to Armello with a touch of Kingdomino - and we all need something to help us relax at the end of a busy day, don't we?
And speaking of busy bees, Iwan reports that Krafton's been busy rebranding Dark and Darker Mobile, now titled Abyss of Dungeons. What exactly brought about the name change? Tune in for all the tea - especially since Will caps off the episode with the interestingly titled In Their Shoes (coming in 2026 with slice-of-life feels). If you've always been curious about what mumblecore actually is, this might just be the day you finally find out.
Finally, there's the so-called relaunch of Dragonheir: Silent Gods - does this mean people will be more interested, or will there be a "medieval-style siege", as Iwan puts it?
*Note: It's a shorter one this week as Iwan's having electricity issues, while Will's audio quality isn't at its best. We'll still bring you what we can about this week's hottest news though, so hopefully you'll stick around!How will K-pop dominate the world, and is Will currently on a top-secret experiment involving this new technology called the telephone? The (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast is a dynamic duo affair this week as they tackle hitmen, bingo, and printing money in no particular order.
Will kicks off his "experiment" with the new Grid Master event within Old School RuneScape, where you get to dive into bingo-esque shenanigans to - like the event name says - master the grid, all in exchange for cool rewards for a limited time. Iwan then immediately jumps into Enhypen World and gives his hot take on the upcoming "cinematic adventure", but if you're curious, pre-registrations will be opening on September 15th.
They talk about the endless possibilities of a possible KPop Demon Hunters mobile game for Netflix for a good bit and how massive this would be (I agree!). Iwan even describes it as something that would print money and officially puts his professional pedigree on the line - a brave man.
Will then moves on to Persona 5: The Phantom X's version 2.0 update, which is absolutely exciting given the slew of new content you can experience along with a brand-new story chapter.
Iwan laments his fate as the sword of Damocles hangs over his head, which is why he swiftly segues into Hitman: World of Assassination launching on iOS - something our very own editor-in-chief praised in his review.
Unfortunately, Iwan's real-world problems catch up with him at this point, so the aforementioned sword drops to make this episode a shorter one!
Iwan is back with a vengeance on this week's (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast, so Will and I alert everyone to stranger dangers before we move on to the magic of rubberhose animations.
That's because Acecraft has officially launched on mobile with a delightfully apt Tom and Jerry collaboration, bringing more cartoon chaos to the skies just like Bearplane. The latter, as Iwan puts it, is a bit of a more violent counterpart, and is doubly interesting since it's loosely based on an actual bear in real life.
Speaking of animals, Dunkadillo is now open for iOS pre-orders, and because we're all fans of Thomas K. Young here, we're all pretty pumped about it. I mean, you essentially play as an armadillo that's also a basketball, so what's not to love?
Iwan then moves on from Will's news with the new Delicious in Dungeon crossover within Sword of Convallaria, which honestly makes so much sense given the anime's very RPG-focused angle. We get excited about cooking and dungeons for a bit before our enthusiasm rolls into Honkai: Nexus Anima, which is HoYoverse's next step to world domination in the sense that it's a creature-collecting adventure that looks incredibly promising.
With its CBT sign-ups now open, I'd say it's worth throwing your hat in the ring if you're curious about this colourful new quest. And finally, we wrap things up with Ragnarok M: Classic, which is out now with all the classic jobs fans of the IP know and love.
It's a shorter one as Iwan isn't with us on this week's (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast, so Will and I basically gush about sabotaging other people's kingdoms with flying orcs and despicable dragons.
As we shake the dust off and try to get used to a new recording time in our super fancy studio, I get the ball rolling with the upcoming launch of Spooky Express, which is all about ferrying cute creatures across the lovingly named "Trainsylvania".
It seems there's a hierarchy of creatures here too depending on which passengers you're ferrying, which brings us to ponder how things work when it comes to class and ranking in the underworld. There also seems to be a trend going on surrounding cosy-slash-creepy things, much like the recent release of Stranger Things-esque Bloomtown on mobile.
That said, Will moves the conversation along to Space Menace 2 that's out now, where the ultimate goal is to conquer the galaxy. He gives us the lore behind that too before we channel all of our enthusiasm to the soft launch of Kingdom Rush Battles, which adds a new PvP twist to your average tower defence set in the popular Kingdom Rush universe.
The good news is that there's not going to be any kind of data wipe for when it officially launches, but either way, if you're curious about how you can defend your own kingdom while sabotaging your opponent at the same time, this one's one to look out for. We also talk about how cool it would be if multiplayer matchmaking were actually made live, so I suppose we'll just have to wait and see if that ever gets implemented.
Before we end, we lament the state of current card games and the fact that I'm no longer able to play Pokemon TCG Pocket despite its shiny-ness, but honestly, it's Crunchyroll's fault for launching Shogun Showdown on mobile.
It's time for episode 32 of the Pocket Gamer Podcast, and in keeping with the new super special podcast formula, Will and Iwan bring you six recent, big stories in a 30-minute digest.
Iwan kicked off the podcast by discussing the 16th anniversary of Plants vs Zombies, as well as a little bit of its history. The duo discuss everything from its journey from premium to free to play, it's card battle spin-off Plants vs Zombies Heroes and the continued failure to launch of its third iteration.
Next up is Will discussing PUBG's transition from 'realistic' toward a more Fortnite-style goofiness. With it's upcoming v3.8 update launches an Attack of Titan event which not only adds in the ability to become a titan, but also zip around the map using the patented Omni-directional mobility gear from the long-running series.
They also discuss the upcoming Steampunk shift, which adds a Steam Train, Hot Air Balloons and a welding gun... as well as velociraptor... of course.
It's not just PUBG Mobile going through big changes, as Iwan then brings the topic of recent changes to EA Sports FC Mobile to the table. Those recent changes, in this case, are the ability to watch select MLS matches through the app, and to earn in-game rewards for doing so.
Now, I've got to tell you, watching what is a semi-obscure league to Europe might not be too interesting to a lot of the wider-world of football/soccer, but it is a really interesting way to start off something new and cool.
Next up, Will discusses recent release Gods vs Horrors, which is certainly a case of 'does what it says on the tin' with a string of deities from varying pantheons battling (via card combat) against 'ungodly' Lovecraftian nightmares.
From ancient gods to old timey assassins, the Duo next discuss the upcoming Reverse 1999 x Assassin's Creed content. It features AC#1 Protagonist Ezio Auditore back in rennaissance Italy and is a great example of how to make clever, branding-strong crossovers when it comes to games revolving around time travel.
Finally, it's time for a little nap: Will takes a moment to reflect on the most recent Pokemon Sleep event, which runs from 12th-15th of May and features a boost to Drowsee power, new sleeping styles and a whole bunch of other features.
It's time for episode 31 of the Pocket Gamer Podcast, and in keeping with the new super special podcast formula, Will and Iwan bring you six recent, big stories in a 30-minute digest.
First up, the duo discuss Iwan's first topic: Apple having to drop the 30% 'Outside AppStore links' charge, including the 'scare screens' that they've been employing to try and keep users within the Apple ecosystem. It's been a long battle, spearheaded by Epic Games, but this latest court victory feels like we're moving toward the closing stages now.
The next topic follows on from discussing Epic, with Will bringing up the return of Flappy Bird, which has recently reappeared on the freshly launched Epic Game Store. They briefly touch on the nature of Flappy Bird, as well as the topic of addiction in games.
Next up, it's all business as Iwan brings up the recently speculated deal between Blizzard and Nexon. It's supposedly specifically about Starcraft publishing and development, however, as we recently covered, there's also word of the Overwatch IP. This means there could be an Overwatch 3, mobile, on the horizon.
From games that could happen, to games that are happening, and soon. The two of them then discuss the upcoming release date of Game of Thrones Kingsroad, before discussing the recently released zombie survival game Darkest Days and the mobile ports of Indie Gems Lisa: The Painful and Lisa: The Joyful.
From flesh-eating viruses to friends in a pickle, the (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast offers a slice of the latest news this week with the three of us doing our usual thing (and by that, I mean veering slightly off-course but managing to head back on track at the last second before everything derails).
After a bit of ado about moustachioed men, Iwan kicks off the episode with a new trailer that's dropped for Resident Evil Survival Unit, then proceeds to gloat about being the franchise's Number One Fan.
From zombies and surviving hordes of the undead, we move on to sunnier and more wholesome things with Dunkadillo, the upcoming platformer from our podcast favourite, Dadish developer Thomas K. Young. You'll roll and dunk your way through dangers to save your friend Pickle, and we are all for it.
Meanwhile, Will segues into StoneAge: Pet World and its regional launch, so if you happen to be based in Thailand, Hong Kong, Macau, and Canada, you can start your pet-brawling adventure today. Iwan then segues into March of Empires coming to the world of tabletop via Kickstarter, before we move on to sweet summers with Shin Chan: Me and the Professor on Summer Vacation, which is out now courtesy of Crunchyroll Game Vault.
It's got us reminiscing about warm summers and cosiness all around, which is why this episode is a tad shorter than usual, as we often go on tangents that perhaps, one day, we can share with you all on b-rolls and all that jazz.
Who are the Illiterati, and where exactly is Iwan from? The (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast answers all that and more, as we dive into trading, timers, and triggers for this episode.
Will eases us into the episode with the upcoming launch of Eco Power Towns, where you try to be as energy-efficient as possible in the least possible moves. More importantly, this is - as Will puts it - a game that believes in you, so it's supposedly as chill as it'll ever be.
After Iwan inadvertently proves that he zoned out on us for a bit there, he makes up for it by rolling the dice and letting me segue into Cats & Soup: Fluffy Town, where cats in baseball costumes are here to brighten up your day because they can and they will.
Iwan remains indignant because Will doesn't seem to know what goes on in the mean streets of Fluffy Town (where Iwan is from, apparently - you heard it here first), before we move on to Pokémon TCG Pocket's Wisdom of Sea and Sky expansion, which, while offering a major game changer, is going through a bit of an artwork issue that's…very curious, to say the least.
Meanwhile, the evil Illiterati are making a mess of things in Criss Cross Castle, which is a lovely word puzzler where, to be honest, the name of the antagonists alone should be enough to compel you to play it right now.
We move on from honing vocabulary to boosting productivity with My Little Pomodoro, a cosy gamified experience where you get to set a timer to keep yourself efficient with your tasks across plenty of lo-fi vibes.
And finally, we end the episode with Iwan's news on Farlight 84's relaunch, with a final shoutout to Fate Trigger, an anime-style shooter that Will's had the pleasure of previewing ahead of its upcoming launch.
What is a car if it doesn't have wheels? The (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast tackles life's most meaningful questions this week, with plenty of focus on all things retro.
I'm pretty pumped with Yu Yu Hakusho: Slugfest's launch, especially since it's officially licensed and brings back a ton of 90s nostalgia for the popular anime. Will of course rains my parade for a little bit before Iwan carries the conversation to the GamerCard, a gift card-sized little gadget that's actually a console. It's a nifty little thing that comes with a suite of arcade-style classics and a relatively affordable price tag, which is always a fun thing to have around.
Meanwhile, Will follows it up with the iOS launch of The Biggleboss Incident, a new point-and-click puzzler where everything isn't quite what it seems. If it feels like it's all fine, it's probably NOT fine, and this workplace comedy offers a satirical look at your average corporate culture if that's something that strikes your fancy.
And since we're apparently all about old-school cool in this episode, we move on to Metal Slug Tactics that's out now courtesy of Crunchyroll Game Vault, after which, Iwan invites us all to join the hype(n) with the announcement of Enhypen World: Eternal Moment that's currently in development.
Before the episode ends, Iwan sneaks in another shoutout to the Fantastic Four as Marvel Contest of Champions is teaming up with Marvel's first family in a new themed collab. We then leave you with an existential question about wheels and cars - it's all about the most important things in life here, folks.
It's another two-player edition of the (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast as Will and Iwan ponder the mysteries of deep underwater worlds and even deeper Cookie lore.
Iwan kicks things off with the mobile launch of Subnautica, which is exciting even though most of us have a crippling fear of the deep blue sea. The dynamic duo talk truths about mobile controllers for a bit, before Will moves on with the launch of Blazblue Entropy Effect, which will also be collaborating with Dead Cells. Over-the-top animations are always cool, after all, so it makes sense that we're a tad hyped about this one.
And speaking of getting properly hyped up, Iwan channels all his energy and enthusiasm into the Fantastic Four's appearance within Marvel Snap, with the Mad Thinker and Mole Man joining the fray too to mess things around. Marvel's First Family is doing a collab with Monopoly Go as well, because everyone deserves their very own Fantasti-Car, I believe.
Will then redirects the enthusiasm to the wonderful world of K-pop with Solo Leveling: Arise, which has teamed up with K-pop girl group i-dle for an explosive all-new music video titled ARISE.
All this leads to catchy collabs and the appeal of K-pop, before Iwan rounds it all up with Garena Free Fire getting an upcoming anime adaptation (or, as the episode puts it, the vindication of anime). There's definitely plenty of other adaptations in the works at the moment, so truly, there's never been a better time to be a gamer.
Before the episode ends, though, Iwan and Will gush about the lore of Cookie Run: Kingdom (and rightly so), and if you haven't been keeping up-to-date with all its Cookies, you should head on over to our treasure trove of CRK guides on the site right now.
Oh and as a bonus, Will wraps it up with the Monster Hunter Now Summer Hunt 2025 event to help you keep cool this season!
What do sleeping Pokemon and backstabbing would-be conquerors have in common? Why, they're both hot topics in this week's (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast, of course!
Iwan channels all his pent-up energy into Zenless Zone Zero's Operation Yum event in London, where local food chain Butchies will be cooking up a storm in serving the aptly called ZZZing Burger combo to fans in the area. More importantly, there will be limited-edition merch, and who are we kidding? Everyone loves those, and anyone who tells you any different is lying to themselves.
Will then segues into the AR magic of Waltz of the Wizard, where the main appeal is to talk to a skull named Skully while you go about your wizarding world, wielding wickedly wizarding whims. You can even chuck him out the window just because, and while you might wonder why you'd want to do such a thing, I think it's safe to assume everyone's going to be doing that the first chance they get.
Surprisingly, this brings us to a conversation about collecting monsters while you're sleeping in Pokemon Sleep, which is now celebrating two years of service. And with Snorlax front and centre, it's no surprise it's still going strong.
Speaking of animals - albeit in a less-than-wholesome way - Way of the Hunter: Wild America is now offering a try-before-you-buy model for the hunting sim as is the trend as of late, while Will takes us into Crash Course Builder that's out now on Android, with an iOS release coming soon. After much ado about gaining "traction", we move on to Road to Empress and its upcoming release, which makes us reminisce about the 90s and FMV games in all their glory.