Best new games of the week: Alto's Adventure and Swap Heroes 2
Every week, our staff will handpick a game from the past two weeks that we believe is a must-have download for your iPhone or iPad. These games will always be from a wide variety of genres, but they are chosen because our own staff members love it and can’t put it down. So here are this week’s picks! Enjoy, and happy gaming!
Alto’s Adventure
Experience an endless snowboarding game like no other with our Game of the Week.
Are you in the mood for a game that is gorgeous, calming, but also challenging and addictive? Then you don’t want to miss our Game of the Week, Alto’s Adventure from Snowman.
This game features some of the most stunning artwork that we have seen since Monument Valley. The minimal and flat aesthetic is perfect for the modern look and feel of iOS, but Snowman has included many fine details that you’ll come to appreciate as you hit the slopes. And to make things even more fresh and interesting, the visuals have a complete day and night cycle with dynamic weather and lighting effects. One moment you’ll be gazing upon a sunny mountainside, and then a thunderstorm during the night. And to top off the fantastic art, the game has a soothing original soundtrack that you’ll want to listen to through headphones for the best experience.
In Alto’s Adventure, players will take control of Alto as he must catch up to the escaped llamas. Along the way, you’ll need to perform tricks, collect coins, jump over chasms, complete goals to level up and unlock new characters, and even race against the Elders who will teach you a lesson about respect if you don’t escape them. While it is an endless runner at its core, the game keeps things fresh and interesting with the goals, and the new characters change the entire gameplay experience once you get them. The coins can be spent to upgrade the coin magnet and hover feature power-ups, as well as the Wingsuit, which allows you to perform even longer trick chains.
We have not been able to stop playing Alto’s Adventure since the game came out last week. It’s definitely one of the best games so far this year, and worth checking out. You can find it on the App Store as a universal download for $1.99.
For a more in-depth look at Alto’s Adventure, don’t miss out on my full review.
Honorable Mention
Swap Heroes 2
Strategize your team’s positioning to win in the challenging Swap Heroes 2.
In the mood for a strategic RPG game instead of an endless runner? Then you have to check out our Honorable Mention, Swap Heroes 2 by Christopher Savory.
The game is charming with a fantastic retro 16-bit pixel art style, complete with vibrant and detailed environments and enemy monsters. And like any RPG game, you can expect an adventurous soundtrack to go along with the action.
Swap Heroes 2 is a sequel to the original Swap Heroes, which was more of a roguelike game since you lost your progress when you died and could only pick random upgrades between stages. Now in Swap Heroes 2, there is a new progression system, where you have the objective of killing a certain number of enemies before you’re able to clear a stage. While the game starts off pretty easy, things pick up in difficulty quickly. There are now more difficultly levels to master, and clearing a level on certain difficulties will yield more stars, which are used to get stat upgrades for the entire team.
But enough with the changes — what is Swap Heroes? Basically, you have four heroes (more are unlocked later), and the formation during each battle is three in the front and one in the rear. To attack, you need to swap the position of two characters, but the one in the back cannot attack until switched out, but they heal in the meantime. If a character is swapped from the back row, they unleash their special attack or ability. The game is based on turns, so the enemy will move and attack after the player does.
We enjoyed the original Swap Heroes when it came out last year, so this is only an improvement on the formula. If you’re a fan of turn-based tactical RPG games, then this is worth a download. You can get Swap Heroes 2 on the App Store as a universal download for $2.99.
Fore more about Swap Heroes 2, check out my full review.
