Hello everyone, and welcome to the week! It’s time once again for our look back at the noteworthy updates of the last seven days. With Valentine’s Day and the Lunar New Year in the rear view mirror, we’re in one of those quiet periods for seasonal updates. Well, I’m sure another one will be along before too long. For now, it’s a mixed assortment of updates to look over. Of course, you can keep an eye out for updates yourself by participating in the TouchArcade forums. This weekly summary is just here to fill you in on the things you might have missed. Let’s go for it!

Sonic Dream Team,

A relatively major update for Sonic Dream Team has arrived. It doesn’t feature any new levels, but it does bring Time Trials into the mix for those who like to perfect their runs. Yes, there are leaderboards. There are also eight new boss missions to play, and Dr Crabulous, the Factory Foreman, and the Guardian Hunter have all gotten some new moves you’ll have to watch out for. Not too bad, and hopefully just the start of where this game is going.

Endless Solitaire Card Game, Free

Curiously, this week sees a couple of games switching up their monetization models. First is this game, which I believe is called Cards Infinity but has obviously changed its name to something more SEO friendly. Anyway, this game is now free to play with absolutely no ads. There is a single IAP called EXTRA now that costs $1.99 and gives you some additional options and features. It also, you know, kicks some money in the direction of the developer, who has continued working on this game in the two years since it first launched.

Goat Simulator+,

Oh, I said we were done with Valentine’s Day updates, but here’s one last one I suppose. The Mass Affection level from Waste of Space is available as a limited-time Valentine’s event. You can unlock Chad, the romantic goat, and he’s looking for love in all the wrong places. Sure, who wouldn’t want an overly amorous goat running around? Seems like a very good idea.

Bloons TD 6, $6.99

Note that this update at the very least also applies to the Apple Arcade version, and maybe also the Netflix version but they don’t know how to write decent update notes. Anyway, you get a new Monkey Sub Paragon, Nautic Siege Core. What are these monkeys up to? Hm. There is also a new intermediate map named Sulfur Springs, a new Co-Op Boss Challenge mode, some new Map Editor goodies, and more. It seems a rather robust update all around, so give it a go if you haven’t dipped in for a while.

Castle Crumble,

A new kingdom comes into play with the Spore Grove Kingdom, bringing sixty new levels to Castle Crumble. Spore Grove, eh? Sounds like some sort of fungus kingdom. A mushroom monarchy, if you will. There are also some new events, plus some challenges from the Mushroom King. I didn’t even make that one up, that’s his name. Trust the fungus. There are some other optimizations and fixes here, but I’ll let you sort through those yourself.

Toon Blast, Free

Time for the obligatory free-to-play matching puzzle game update for this week, and I am lazily picking Toon Blast. What can I say? I’m late for dinner and not even close to done my work. As usual, you can look forward to fifty new levels to play, and the theme this time is something to do with a lost phoenix. Search for it. Find the phoenix. Only good things will happen if you do. Is that enough for the formatting? I don’t know, but I’m too hungry to worry about that now.

Cut the Rope 3,

I do love seeing updates for Cut the Rope 3 pop up. It reminds me of the good old days of the App Store. Oh no, am I nostalgic for iOS games? Surely… surely time cannot be passing that quickly! EXISTENTIAL CRISIS-INDUCED REBOOT! Okay, so we’ve got thirty new levels in this latest version of the game, complete with ten new Nommies. You get a new location to play around in, and some kind of magnet thingamabob to make use of. You want to skip animations? You can do that now. There’s also some chicanery involving iMessage chats here, but that’s none of my business.

Dungeon Hunter 6, Free

It takes a lot of courage to hunt dungeons, but some people have done it six times. Big respect. Just… thwacking away at those stone walls, and what-not. This update add the new Bloodthirty Knight class to the game, and let me tell you, they love them some blood. Can’t get enough of that bloodiful stuff. There are also some new features in the form of the Expedition and Reawakened Guardians, both of which unlock when you reach character level forty. Push on to level forty-six and you’ll get access to the new Idol Weapon Star Up feature as well. You have to Star Up those weapons if you want to knock down those nasty dungeons for good. And then you can use the dungeon meat to make dungeon Sloppy Joes. Nice.

Minion Rush: Running game, Free

I see this is now called Minion Rush Running Game in the App Store. Sad that the Minions alone aren’t enough to catch eyes for this game. Oh well. I’m sure they’ll regain their popularity soon enough. This update brings three new Special Missions to complete. In the House of Flying Minions, the Minions are joining an acrobatic competition to celebrate the Lunar New Year (oh, there was one more of these then too). In Minion Racing, Gru’s daughters have signed him up for a sports race, and it’s up to the Minions to put together a car that will help him earn the checkered flag. Finally, in Lucky Day the Minions are on the hunt for a four-leaf clover so that they can win the lottery. Hijinks, I tell you! Hijinks! Also: new costumes Zodiac Bob and Racer.

Alien: Isolation, Free

But I’m not as hungry as these large xenomorphs, am I right? Actually, is it hunger that drives them? They seem to be focused on other things. Best not to think too hard about it. At any rate, this is the other game today that is changing its monetization model. Rather than one up-front payment for the game, it’s now free to try out the first two missions. This will let you see if the game is for you, and if it runs nicely on your device. If you enjoy it, it’s just a single $14.99 USD IAP to unlock the full game and all of its DLC. I’ll give this the UMMSotW award for this week, because more people need to try this excellent game out and this update will facilitate that.

That about wraps it up for last week’s significant updates. I’m sure I’ve missed some, though, so please feel free to comment below and let everyone know if you think something should be mentioned. As usual, major updates will likely get their own news stories throughout this week, and I’ll be back next Monday to summarize and fill in the blanks. Have a great week!