Tekken Card Tournament is a new iOS and Android game from Namco Bandai’s European arm. It’s available now as a free download from the App Store and Google Play, and carries numerous in-app purchases.

As the title suggests, Tekken Card Tournament is a digital collectible card game based on Namco’s popular and long-running fighting game series Tekken. Players make use of decks of virtual cards themed after characters from the Tekken franchise, and then take the fight to either computer- or human-controlled opponents in live online turn-based one-on-one battles.

The fighting gameplay in Tekken Card Tournament makes use of a “rock, paper, scissors” system whereby each player may pick one of three actions on each turn. Choosing to “Focus” allows you to draw a card into your hand, up to a limit of five. Choosing “Strike” allows you to attack with all the cards in your hand and also destroys the first (oldest) card in your opponent’s hand if they choose to Focus. Choosing “Block,” meanwhile, blocks the first two cards from an opponent’s hand if they choose to “Strike,” but otherwise has no effect. The challenge of the game primarily consists of determining what the opponent is likely to do next based on the cards they have in their hand — except under special circumstances, both players’ hands are visible to one another — and then taking the optimum course of action. Play is kept pacy thanks to a time limit for each turn and a mechanic which obliterates both players’ hands completely if they both block for more than two turns in succession.

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Extreme Road Trip 2 is a new Facebook game from Roofdog Games. It’s currently highlighted in the “New Games” section of Facebook’s App Center, and is also available for iOS and Android-based devices via the App Store and Google Play respectively. This review is based on the Facebook incarnation of the game.

Extreme Road Trip 2 is a combination of two popular casual game genres: the endless runner and the physics-based stunt racer. Players take control of an out-of-control vehicle and must try and survive for as long as possible over an increasingly-unduluating course littered with various obstacles, coins to collect and landmines that fling their vehicle into the air. Controlling the vehicle is a simple matter of using the left and right arrow keys on the keyboard to spin it when it is in the air, and ensuring the car lands the right way up when it hits the ground. The speed at which the car hits the ground is not important — so long as it is still wheels-down when it lands, it will continue driving. Particularly accurate landings will reward the player with a speed boost.

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Frontline Commando: D-Day is a new iOS and Android game from Glu Mobile. At the time of writing, it doesn’t appear to have hit the two platforms’ respective app marketplaces as yet, but it is set to do so later this week, and will be a free download with additional in-app purchases, much like Glu’s other titles.

Frontline Commando: D-Day is the follow-up to Glu’s previous title Frontline Commando, but exchanges the earlier title’s modern-day setting for the Normandy landings in World War II. Several years back, the first- and third-person shooter market was saturated with World War II-themed shooters, but the trends have shifted back in favor of modern-day conflicts these days. Glu’s return to the D-Day landings helps distinguish the new game from its numerous contemporaries.

Gameplay in Frontline Commando is more of a gallery shooter than a true third-person shooter. Players automatically move from cover point to cover point in each level, and must then eliminate all enemies in the area in order to progress to the next hotspot. Once all the hotspots have been cleared, the level is complete and the player receives rewards. Three objectives in each level provide the player with specific challenges to accomplish such as beating a particular completion time or performing a certain number of headshots, and successfully achieving these rewards the player with stars, which are used to unlock additional rewards and new campaigns at regular intervals. (more…)

Towers is a Facebook game from Xi-Art Inc. It’s currently showing up in the “Trending” section of Facebook’s App Center as well as sidebar advertising modules within the App Center, and is also available for iOS and Android devices. This review is based on the Facebook incarnation of the game.

Towers is a cards-based solitaire game somewhat similar to PopCap’s Solitaire Blitz and standalone downloadable card games such as Big Fish’s Fairway Solitaire and Subsoap’s Faerie Solitaire. The basic mechanics are the same — players have a single “draw” pile of cards, from which one is face-up at all times, and cards from the on-screen arrangement must be matched to the draw pile by clicking on those of a value one higher or lower than the current face-up card. Kings wrap around to aces and vice-versa. If there is no card available to play onto the current face-up card, the player must click on the draw pile to take a new face-up card. The round is over when one of three conditions are met: the draw pile is exhausted, the 120-second time limit expires or the player clears the arrangement of cards on screen. At the conclusion of a round, if the player has met the target score — which usually only happens if they successfully clear the screen, due to the significant bonuses this provides — they may move on to another round, otherwise the game is over and their best score is recorded on a weekly tournament leaderboard.

The game features an experience level system that slowly creeps up with each completed game — more experience is earned for higher scores. Upon each level up, the player unlocks a “skill” which affects the gameplay in a minor way — usually by increasing their final score by 1% at a time. At level 3, the player unlocks the ability to earn soft currency with each game, though they may not actually spend this soft currency on powerups until they have earned at least 1,000 units of it. Given that an average game barely nets double-digit quantities of soft currency, earning 1,000 of these silver coins will take a very long time without making an in-app purchase. This only unlocks the first of three powerups, too — the others must be unlocked by using the previous ones ten times, which will require a significant total amount of soft currency to achieve. This rather questionable pacing is clearly a rather unsubtle attempt at nudging the player in the direction of the in-app purchase options (which are, it’s worth noting, available even when there’s nothing to spend the currency on) but thankfully the game is perfectly enjoyable and playable without the use of powerups. (more…)

Mini Golf MatchUp is a new iOS and Android game from Scopely, makers of the “With Buddies” series of cross-platform asynchronous multiplayer games. The new game is available now as a free download from the App Store and Google Play. This review is based on the iOS version, tested on an iPhone 4S running iOS 6.

Mini Golf MatchUp is an asynchronous turn-based miniature golf game in which pairs of players take it in turns to complete various courses and attempt to score as many points as possible. The game is controlled from a top-down perspective by tapping and dragging away from the ball’s current location to set power and direction using an on-screen arrow, then releasing to take the shot. The fewer shots the player takes to reach the hole, the more points they will score, and additional bonus points can be scored by shooting the ball through gems of various types. It is usually the gems rather than the number of shots that make the difference between winning and losing. If the player makes a mistake, it is possible to use a single “do over” per game for free, after which it costs soft currency to undo a shot. Players play the entire hole before passing play to their opponent rather than taking it in turns to take individual shots as in real golf.

Coins may be earned through play, acquired via in-app purchase or received as a reward for inviting friends to the game via their device’s contact list. The game also features Facebook and Twitter connectivity, allowing the player to invite friends to play directly using Facebook and to tweet about the game using Twitter. The player is rewarded with achievements for taking advantage of these facilities, which subsequently provides them with a special currency known as “stars.” These stars are used to unlock new courses when starting a new game with another player — alternatively, the player may immediately unlock specific courses with in-app purchases. Later courses also require that the player expend soft currency to play on them, so the game has the potential to get quite expensive for those who aren’t careful with their in-game currencies.

The game is inherently social by its very nature. During the course of the tutorial, the player is forced into starting at least three games with random opponents rather than having the opportunity to practice by themselves — in fact, there is no solo play option in the game. The game features a chat facility in which players may leave messages for one another after they have completed their turn, but other than this there does not appear to be a means of viewing another player’s profile — the only real point of contact you have with them is their chosen username and their avatar (which may be pulled from Facebook). This is a minor issue, but given that the game tracks players’ stats and allows one’s own performance to be reviewed from the main menu, it would perhaps be nice to be able to compare statistics with other players.

On the whole, Mini Golf MatchUp is a simple, easy to understand game that is very straightforward to get into and quick to play — all ideal features of an asynchronous game. Its monetization is arguably a little heavy-handed — it’s possible to spend up to $99.99 in a single in-app purchase, and the player is even given achievements for buying soft currency — but it is possible to have a satisfying experience for free. It’s a decent addition to the lineup of asynchronous titles available on iOS, and noteworthy among them for not following the usual word or puzzle game formulae.

The iOS version of Mini Golf MatchUp is currently ranked at No. 2 in Top Free Apps, No. 115 in Top Grossing Apps, No. 2 in Top Free iPad Apps, No. 314 in Top Grossing iPad Apps, No. 1 in Top Free Games, No. 96 in Top Grossing Games, No. 1 in Top Free iPad Games and No. 215 in Top Grossing iPad Games. The Android version, meanwhile, is ranked at No. 162 in Games, No. 62 in Arcade Games and No. 379 in Top Free Apps. Follow its progress with AppData, our tracking service for mobile and social games and developers.

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A fun, well-implemented asynchronous minigolf game.

The Croods is a new iOS and Android game from Angry Birds creator Rovio. It’s a tie-in with the new Dreamworks movie of the same name, and is currently available as a free download from the App Store and Google Play, with additional in-app purchases of in-game currency.

The Croods sees players taking control of the prehistoric family from the movie and guiding them through various misadventures as they attempt to become self-sufficient and invent various items. Basic gameplay revolves around trapping ten different types of animal, feeding them the correct food to tame them, building them a home and then feeding them to make them produce useful items. These items are then subsequently used to build other structures, trap more types of animal and invent various items which unlock new areas on the game map.

Players’ progression through the game is measured through the usual experience point system, and also through a sequence of quests (here rather aptly referred to as “chores”) provided by one of the characters from the movie. Players earn small quantities of experience points for everything they do, but practically speaking they will have to complete the quests in order to progress at anything approaching a satisfying rate, since quests offer significantly higher rewards than single actions. (more…)

Chinese mobile game developer and platform maker CocoaChina today revealed that its flagship franchise Fishing Joy is now generating $6.28 million per month in revenue worldwide, with more than 10 million daily active users (DAU), doubling its monthly revenue in two months.

CocoaChina attributes the game’s success to continued optimization and the rapid growth of the Chinese smartphone user base. The company also increased the game’s reach by reducing the game’s package size, making it more attractive to users with limited bandwidth and data plans.

Last month, the company’s U.S. general manager Lei Zhang told Inside Mobile Apps that Fishing Joy 2 (responsible for the vast majority of the revenue) was generating $4 million in gross revenue as of February.

Inside Mobile Apps also talked to CocoaChina in Nov. 2012 about the company’s strategy for the Chinese market. Zhang attributed Fishing Joy 2’s success to his company’s broad distribution strategy, a stringent anti-piracy policy, and most importantly, access to carrier billing. Back then Fishing Joy 2 was pulling in $1.6 million a month from the Chinese Android market.

Fishing Joy’s 10 million DAU is nothing to sneeze at as well. Monthly active users (MAU) and DAU figures are generally kept close to the vest by mobile game developers. For comparison, Electronic Arts’ hit resource management game The Simpsons: Tapped Out was said to have reached 2.8 million DAU after the title was ranked No. 1 on the iOS top grossing apps charts in October 2012.

Inside Mobile App also recently reported on CocoaChina’s high profile hire of Kai Zhao as its U.S. VP of Engineering and its plans to launch a social gaming platform in 2013.

Jumble Friends is a new iOS/Android game from Jericho Games. It’s available now as a free download from the App Store and Google Play. This review is based on the iOS version, tested on an iPhone 4S.

Jumble Friends is an asynchronous multiplayer anagram-based word game in which you compete against another player to quickly solve all the jumbled-up words as quickly as possible. As usual for this type of game, players may either connect with Facebook and invite their friends to play, pair up with random strangers or invite people by username. There is no requirement to have a Facebook account to play the game — those without one can sign up with their email address.

Upon starting a new game, players may pick one of several different categories to choose words from, and may optionally purchase additional categories using their in-game currency. Some of the categories are fairly vague (such as “verbs” or “four-letter words”) while others are more specific (“common boys’ names”). Category choice alternates between the two players with each round — in the first round, the player who started the game gets to pick the category; their opponent starts the next round by picking a category; and so on until five rounds have been completed and a winner declared.

In a single round, players are presented with four jumbled words from the given category and must unscramble them as quickly as possible by dragging the letters around to swap their places. When a word has been successfully unscrambled, it turns green and is no longer editable. When all four words have been completed, the player’s final time is compared to their opponent’s (assuming the opponent has already taken their turn) and play passes to the other player. Between rounds, players may send a message and emoticon to their opponent indicating how they feel about the last round. (more…)

Zombie Minesweeper is a mobile game from Octo Industries. The game was released on iOS back in 2011 to modest success, but has recently seen a port to Android and is reportedly performing quite well. This review is based on the new Android version, tested on a Motorola Xoom tablet running Android 4.0.4. The game ran fine on this combination of hardware and firmware, though was a little sluggish at times.

Zombie Minesweeper is a fast-paced take on the classic Windows timewaster Minesweeper. Rather than spending hours agonizing over where the mines are, however, Zombie Minesweeper’s twist is that the protagonist — who replaces the mouse cursor of the original — must not only avoid and flag mines, but must also avoid the unwanted attention of various zombified creatures while attempting to reach the level’s exit, marked by a detonator that will set off all the mines.

Basic gameplay involves tapping to move on the isometric-perspective 3D rendered grid. The protagonist will then move to the tapped location and treat it as if the player had clicked on that square in the original Minesweeper. Safe squares will be automatically revealed, as will numbered squares showing how many mines are in the immediate vicinity of that tile. The player may “flag” squares they know to contain a mine by tapping the flag symbol at the side of the screen, though they are not required to do this in order to complete the level. The only requirement for successful completion of the level is to reach the detonator at the end in as few attempts as possible, but additional points are scored for correctly flagging mines (and points lost for incorrectly flagging) and defeating zombies. The latter may be achieved either by luring them over spaces the player knows to contain mines, or by picking up bomb items scattered around the level and dropping them in a zombie’s path. Later levels also add shotguns to defeat zombies directly, and brains to lure them into traps. More points are scored for defeating several zombies in a single explosion, and it’s even possible to defeat zombies after the level has been completed — all correctly-flagged mines will be detonated upon the completion of a level. (more…)

Android-focused Mobile game developer and publisher Animoca released data showing the Samsung Galaxy S3 as the top Android handset in the U.S. and Ice Cream Sandwich as the top version of the Android platform.

Samsung’s flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S3, grabbed an 8.8 share among the top Android smartphones in the U.S. The Galaxy S2 landed at the No. 2 spot, with a 6.1 percent share. In total, five of the top 10 Android phones in the U.S. were manufactured by Samsung. It should come as no surprise that the South Korean conglomerate is the top Android smartphone manufacturer in the U.S., with data from both mobile ad network Millennial Media and analytics firm ComScore showing the same result. Korean manufacturers, in general, dominated the top three spots, with the Galaxy S3, Galaxy S2 and the LG Motion 4G MS770 accounting for 19.7 percent of U.S. Android phones.

What’s interesting about Animoca’s data is how much different its Android platform data varies when compared to Google’s developer dashboard, which breaks down the Android platform usage on devices by version. Animoca showed Ice Cream Sandwich (version 4.0.4) as the top Android version, with a 33.5 percent share of devices running Android. Comparatively, Google showed Ice Cream Sandwich taking a 29.0 percent share (version 4.0.3 and 4.0.4 combined). According to Animoca’s data, Gingerbread (both version 2.3.4 and 2.3.6) only grabbed a 22.9 percent share at the No. 2 and No. 5 spots, while Google’s data showed Gingerbread (versions 2.3 to 2.3.2 and 2.3.3 to 2.3.7) leading all versions with a 45.6 percent share.

Animoca released a similar report that showed its findings on the top U.S. Android handsets and platforms back in Nov. 2012. Android devices running Jelly Bean or higher accounted for a 46.1 percent of the overall share back in Nov. 2012, but it’s now up to 61.5 percent in its most recent report.

The Hong Kong-based game company collected data for this report between Jan. 15 and Feb. 15 from users of Animoca’s Android smartphone games downloaded through Google Play — tablets excluded — in the U.S.

UPDATE: Shortly after publishing, Google updated its developer dashboard. Below are Google’s updated market share figures of the Android platform usage on devices for Ice Cream Sandwich, Gingerbread and Jelly Bean:

• Ice Cream Sandwich (version 4.0.3 and 4.0.4 combined): 28.6 percent
• Gingerbread (versions 2.3 to 2.3.2 and 2.3.3 to 2.3.7): 44.2 percent
• Jelly Bean (Both versions 4.1 and 4.2): 16.5

This story originally appearing on our sister site Inside Mobile Apps.