Explore every episode of the podcast The Pocket Gamer Podcast

What is the scariest game of all time in your opinion? How would you survive starvation in a Tim Burton-esque land, and do you find a certain speedy hedgehog creepy too? We celebrate the 100th episode of the (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast with a Halloween special too - and with special guest Cristina joining in after a long while of being away!

Since we're going to be recommending a bunch of creepy games you might want to try your hand in this season, I kick things off with Dr Chatelet: Faith, where you play as a doctor in the Middle Ages trying to cure the common folk's illnesses by bloodletting and amputation. The Tim Burton-esque visuals might make it seem like it's all cutesy and stuff, but it's actually got a dark and twisted nature, especially with the real historical snippets you get at the end of each chapter about what medical "technology" used to be.

Cristina then follows up with the similarly-themed visual style of Don't Starve Together, where you essentially try to survive a world where everything is out to kill you - even the darkness. It's a co-op game, but Cristina has somehow been Don't-Starving-Alone all this time.

Will then takes things into an even darker turn with Replaced, where you play as an AI trapped in a human body, trying to survive a dystopian world that's basically gone to the dogs. And it's all very timely too in its theme - it certainly offers plenty of existential crises for you this Halloween.

And finally, Iwan wraps it all up with the creepiest thing of all - and that's the idea of games "hacking" into your phone, trying to reach you even though it's not supposed to be real. That's the stuff of nightmares, really - although Cristina offers another surprise nightmarish image for us all before the episode ends!

Do you have a favourite crossover on mobile? What do you think is the greatest or the most nonsensical collab of all time? It's all about combining what should and shouldn't be combined in this week's (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast, where we once again add a sneaky little plug for the Pocket Gamer Awards and its ongoing nominations phase.

Will kicks off the discussion with Diablo Immortal and Spawn, which we all kinda feel like is pretty apt given the hell-themed shenanigans both franchises have. Then, we turn our attention to the other end of the spectrum, which is the recently concluded WWE Champions x Cowboy Bebop collab. It just doesn't feel like it makes sense no matter how you look at it, but hey - if people are having fun, then that's more than enough, I suppose!

Iwan then steers the conversation to FIFA Heroes and its crossover with Kung Fu Panda, before we reveal why we're actually talking about collabs this week - and that's because there's a new category for the Pocket Gamer Awards 2027 called Best In-Game Collab. That makes us look back on the most memorable ones we've had over the years, including Vampire Survivors x Among Us, CookieRun: Kingdom x BTS, Call of Duty Mobile x The Boys, and Sword of Convallaria x The Witcher. There's also AFK Journey's crossovers with Delicious in Dungeon and Frieren.

For me, my top picks to nominate would be Dead Cells x Castlevania and Last Cloudia x Star Ocean, while Iwan highlights the Balatro x Friends of Jimbo ultimate collab.

We throw our wishes into the ether for a possible Dadish x Turnip Boy crossover, and Will adds the Godzilla DLC from Dave the Diver to his wishlist. And finally, Iwan wraps it all up with the strangest collabs in PUBG, so suffice it to say that there's a lot to choose from when you make your nominations this month!

Who's the best mobile game character of all time? Do you fancy first-person Doom-esque shooters, or would you rather take your dungeon-crawling chaos elsewhere? We ponder the ins and outs of iconic looks and character depths (or the lack thereof) in this week's (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast, where we also hype up the Pocket Gamer Awards and its nominations phase on the 15th.

Yes, the Pocket Gamer Awards 2027 is opening nominations beginning October 15th, where you can nominate your faves provided the game was launched between 1st October '25 and 30th September '26. We've got a whole bunch of new categories this year, including Best Mobile Game Character, which may or may not be a certain spiky-haired teen with a penchant for gigantic swords.

Iwan and Will suggest different franchise icons that have become household names and mobile classics through the years, including characters from Clash of Clans, Angry Birds, and an imposter-hunting space crew. This is the perfect segue for Among Us Story: On Guard, then, as the popular social deduction game is taking the multiplayer aspect out of the equation and switching things up with a single-player murder mystery-ish adventure.

Whether or not that's going to work remains to be seen, but that does remind Iwan of something he was initially looking forward to as well, which is Boltgun Boom. Stephen's hands-on raised some issues on the controls for this boomer shooter sub-genre - which breaks Iwan's heart a little bit - but that just means he's now fully committed to Warhammer Survivors when it launches next month.

Will then shares the most recent launch he's most excited for, which is Vampire Crawlers on mobile! That, at least, raises Iwan's spirits for a bit, before we wrap it all up with another reminder for you guys - don't forget to nominate your mobile faves for the Pocket Gamer Awards tomorrow!

Are you a fan of all things low-poly, or are you into old-school cool? Have you ever dabbled in RuneScape, or are you more of a Warhammer enthusiast? You can certainly be both in this week's (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast, where Iwan recaps everything that went down during RuneFest over the weekend - plus, he and Will go all out on all things Warhammer.

Iwan wastes no time in telling us all about RuneScape RuneFest and the biggest announcements that were dropped during the event, including both a 4th RuneScape game and an animated series in the works. Will offers his two cents on what kind of theme the show might take on, before we move on to speculating about the 4th RuneScape adventure and what that might mean for fans of the long-running franchise.

And while the first half of the episode is all about RuneScape, the second half is basically Iwan and Will gushing about their love for Warhammer thanks to Warhammer Survivors having just revealed its official launch date. Honestly, though, even for someone like me who knows nothing about the IP, I think the teaser trailer alone should get anyone hyped for the Survivors-like. I simply love the theme they're clearly going for here - and I don't doubt it'll resonate with fans of the genre, especially since the upcoming "bullet heaven" is being developed in collaboration with poncle themselves.

That said, Iwan and Will share some very interesting tidbits with me to enlighten me about this incredibly lush world, and by the time this episode ends, I can safely say my interest is definitely piqued - here's hoping yours will be too.

Are you a fan of auto-battles or would you rather go for the grind? How do you feel about romancing waifus that actually require you to make an effort? I'm super pumped for this episode of the (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast, where I gush about the week that's been getting up close and personal with some of Tencent's most talked-about games.

The first big thing I kick off with is how I got hands-on with Monster Hunter Outlanders, as well as grabbed an interview with the devs during my Shenzhen trip. We also get Will pretty hyped about it, because as a fan of the franchise, he's curious to see how the team brings the massive scale of the Monster Hunter IP to mobile.

Next on the list is Chasing Kaleidorider, which I have a preview in the works for too! It's a "doki doki" romance RPG where you attempt to woo femme fatales on motorbikes, and honestly, it not only looks cool but it also offers a pretty in-depth romance sim where you really need to put in a lot of effort to win the girl of your dreams. It's meant to be a wholesome affair, and on top of that, it's got Will excited for the arcade combat and Iwan intrigued by the whole concept.

Speaking of wholesome, Animula Nook is Tencent's upcoming cosy life sim that's set in a miniaturised world, and while most people will probably aim to cross each item on their quest checklist as soon as possible, I ended up getting obsessed with cleaning the dust off the floor with my trusty skateboard. It's a compelling loop, really, and the adorable pets you get to meet along the way simply add to its lovely charm.

Finally, Iwan wraps it all up by asking me what I thought would be the next big thing for the company, which, apart from Monster Hunter Outlanders, made me rethink Delta Force and its huge scale. Getting to watch the 2nd-anniversary esports tournament in person made me realise just how massive it is, and I don't doubt it'll only get bigger in the future.

As a fan of a franchise, would you want its sequel to be in the exact same genre, or something else entirely? Is there anything you're looking forward to the most at Tokyo Game Show this weekend? We ask a lot of whys in this week's (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast, and throw in some Belmont-related jumpscares along the way.

That said, one of the mobile games that's being showcased at TGS is Wai Wai World Craft, which honestly has all three of us confused. It's a great concept, sure - but at the moment, it's looking a little lacklustre, and we're not entirely sure who it's for. It's a Roblox-esque game but with different Konami properties all in one place, which steers the conversation to random Contra-themed musings.

It's not all bad, though, because another IP that Konami is showcasing is Suikoden Star Leap, and I'm extremely ecstatic for this one! It was launched in Japan for iOS and Android last month, but I don't doubt it'll also be released worldwide - it's only a matter of when. As a fan of the franchise, I love how they've chosen to go back to the IP's old-school pixel-art turn-based roots. And what's even more interesting is that the gacha system here supposedly only locks the heroes from the previous titles in the summons pool - not the ones you actually meet when you progress through the story.

Meanwhile, what Will's looking forward to is Absolum, a totally awesome-looking "rogue 'em up" that's coming to mobile on November 5th. There's plenty of Streets of Rage 4 and Golden Axe vibes with this one, so it's safe to say you can expect us to be diving into this as soon as it's out.

How long do you think you can survive as a new ruler of your own kingdom? Would real life be easier if there were only two choices in every decision? We ponder the hilarious duality of life in this week's (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast, where it's all about Reigns and its 10th anniversary!

François Alliot, creative director and co-founder of Nerial, and Senior Narrative Designer Oscar Harrington-Shaw sit down with us this week to talk about Reigns' beginnings, how they pitched it as "Game of Thrones meets Tinder", and how mobile was always the plan for the narrative Choose Your Own Adventure-like sim. It's an interesting tale of how the concept came to be, and at which point they realised that the franchise had the potential to be the massive hit it is today.

They also share stories about how the mobile landscape has changed over the years in terms of premium price tags, analytics, and different monetisation models, which brings to light a lot of thoughtful points on the evolution of the series across a decade.

That said, with all the different IPs that the Reigns series now has - Game of Thrones and The Witcher included - they both share their dream franchise they'd love to maybe Reigns-ify one day, as well as their personal favourites, advice for indie devs, and subtle hints on what they might be working on next!

Did you catch all the latest developments about Gamescom last week? Is there a mobile game you're particularly excited about? Iwan's back from the event and has both me and Will properly hyped up in this week's (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast, where we tackle everything from HoYoverse hijinks to Tencent TBAs!

Right after Iwan admits he wasn't able to get hands-on with "anime GTA" Ananta, he gets right to it with Silver Palace, an upcoming aRPG with thrilling hack-and-slash action. He takes us through what makes it look, feel, and play differently from others in its genre, including its very distinct theming and rockin' soundtrack.

Now, I mistakenly thought it felt similar to Reverse: 1999, so Iwan happily sheds more light on it before we move on to Honkai: Nexus Anima - it's only fitting that we dive into HoYoverse's projects, as they very kindly sent Iwan to Gamescom in the first place. 

We go into the pros and cons of the creature-collecting auto-battling RPG, because I was also fortunate enough to get hands-on with the beta a few weeks ago (and so did our teammate Cristina). One of the things we did like about it is how it's able to inject its signature miHoYo humour into the creatures or the Anima, but we do feel like the gacha element might be where the power creep, well, creeps in.

This then moves us on to Petit Planet, in which Iwan offers the latest developments that have been added since the last demo I played. But for me, one of the most exciting things I saw from all the Gamescom announcements was the surprise reveal of Nodusfall, which sets itself apart from other HoYoverse projects thanks to its non-anime-styled visuals alone.

I feel like it's very Monster Hunter-esque, so Will offers his two cents on how it might play out if it were an MH-like game but with gacha elements. He does have reservations about the cosmetics and the grind, so it'll be interesting to see how the studio will address this in the future.

Onto Tencent things, Iwan shares his thoughts on both Honor of Kings World and Honor of Kings Ace, including his interesting insights on the future of League of Legends and Riot Games. 

At this point, we ask him what stood out to him the most during the event, and he turns our attention to the pavilions for Morocco and Korea. What's also very lovely to see was the bigger presence of mobile this year, because as we'll always tell you, mobile is awesome, and mobile is where it's at!

Are there any games you're looking forward to being showcased at Gamescom this year? And do you think a rabbit's foot can truly bring you luck? It's all about Gamescom fever in this week's (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast, where we channel our excitement about all the cool stuff that's going to be featured - particularly the indie ones - across this multi-day gaming event.

Will kicks off the conversation with Rust Mobile and its second closed beta, giving us a quick look at what the survival crafting franchise is all about and what sets it apart from others in the genre. It's definitely stood the test of time, so it'll be interesting to see how something this massive could be ported onto mobile soon.

And speaking of platforms, Overserved is one of the things that caught my eye over on the Gamescom list, as it's apparently supposed to be playable across more than 12 platforms - including the Neo Geo arcade cabinet. Iwan and Will offer their sceptical takes on how this is actually going to happen, but if it does, that would, truth be told, actually be really awesome.

We then move on to other Gamescom indies such as Dungeon Clawler and Goblin Sushi - the former will have you vowing vengeance on the gamblers who cut off your rabbit's foot, while the latter sets you on a quest to pay your landlord else he dies. I absolutely love these backstories - it just makes everything even more intriguing. 

Finally, Iwan offers his two cents on Gamescom as a whole and the games he's most excited to see there, including Please, Watch the Artwork, Honor of Kings Ace, HoYoverse titles, and Sea of Remnants. If you're curious about what it's like on the ground, stay tuned for his recap and coverage of the event next week!

Are you a fan of mobile adaptations of your favourite anime shows? How do you feel about reliving "iconic scenes" from the franchise, or about the roster of characters you want to collect? It's a shameless celebration of all things JoJo in this week's (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast, where you might just hear two different perspectives on the new RPG from fans and non-fans alike.

Iwan gets right to it with the launch of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Spirit, and if you've been a regular listener to the podcast, you'll know that both Will and Iwan are massive fans of the IP. For me, as a newcomer to the franchise, I wasn't sure how to feel about the very narrative-driven approach to the RPG, but we do all agree that the visuals are fantastic and that the RPG is really well made.

Iwan and Will then get into the heart of the matter about whether or not it's a good idea to introduce the series at a certain point in the arc, and Iwan airs his grievances about the roster of characters currently available. Despite our apparent complaints, the truth is that we all very much enjoy the game, to be honest! And if you're looking to get into it as well, we've got a beginner's guide and a Hall of Trials guide to help you get started.

Moving on before we get too deep into JJBA, something that also caught our eye this week is the 8BitDo FlipPad, which is an interesting little peripheral that essentially turns your mobile phone into a GameBoy-esque handheld device. It leads our conversation into emulators and how well these mobile innovations may go, including a potential Nintendo-based set of old-school retro games and Iwan's previous review of the similarly built GameSir Pocket Taco.

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How would you like an AI assistant that makes seamless purchases for you? Would you have enough self-discipline, or will your in-app purchases spiral out of control? We ponder the consequences of automated sales in this week's (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast, where we tackle everything from morbid geese to duck mafia.

The big topic for this episode is mobile monetisation via AI agents, in which we shed some light on what the future might look like if AI assistants could make automatic purchases for you within games. It's all about removing barriers and making things as immersive and seamless as possible, which might not turn out so well if you're easily swayed by tempting offers.

It's the hilariously perfect segue from AI into Cluck Survivor, as the premise for this Survivors-like stems from an AI data centre exploding. It does offer a charming set of visuals for the genre, which reminds Iwan of his experience playing both My Hero Academia United Survival and The Walking Dead Aftermath.

There's an interesting dichotomy between the two despite being in the same genre, but the bottom line is that presentation matters more than you might think. It's why the gacha element in both CookieRun: Kingdom and CookieRun: Crumble is so memorable, after all!

Will also recalls his time playing Hunter x Hunter: Nen x Survivor, before we segue into other quirkier takes on the genre, including a Loopy Ducky and some ducks in a top hat, before we wrap it all up with an innocent goose being boiled alive in Goose RPG: Honk to Survive.

Oh, and we're looking forward to the aptly titled Warhammer Survivors one too, which is another take on the genre and is being developed in cooperation with poncle themselves!

If a game tells you to expect an ad every hour, does that make it less disruptive? How do you feel about watching ads for games you already own? We try to get our bearings upon Iwan's return in this week's (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast, where we tackle everything from promotional materials for an office supply chain to more mobile monetisation mayhem.

Will jumps right into the big topic for this week, which is that Xbox has announced that it'll be testing this new ad-based system for its games streaming service. This means that you'll be streaming games with ads being shown every hour, which raises a lot of questions about how disruptive these will be during each gameplay session. 

Mobile has been doing this for a while now, hasn't it? This brings to mind one of the recent games I've had the pleasure of playing, which is Wish Upon A Cat. This point-and-click adventure, from the very beginning, tells you that it'll show you five ads across the entire experience, and knowing that, it actually made me feel less annoyed with ads, mainly because I was expecting them. Does that mean being aware of the ads makes them less intrusive?

Iwan and Will then discuss the pros and cons of applying ads that are more relevant to the actual game's universe, as well as what exactly it means to be shown ads that add value to the player. Will it make more sense for ads to be integrated seamlessly into games? For instance, in Shelter From the Storm, could a document you're supposed to read perhaps be sponsored by an office supply chain? But that'd just be weird for something like Genshin Impact, wouldn't it?

We throw a lot of random suggestions out into the ether, including having a banner at the bottom of the window (which definitely takes away from the verisimilitude, as Iwan puts it), asking people what kinds of ads they want to see, or having ads run on loading screens. There's also this interesting suggestion Will makes about having hidden codes inside the ads to reward players who've seen it, while Iwan counters that idea with having an IRL coupon you can use to get a free burger somewhere.

It all boils down to how players are going to respond to this, because on mobile, this kind of ad strategy is already pretty common. What do you think about this "new thing" Xbox is trying, though? Send us a carrier pigeon and let us know!

How do you go about your regular game night? And what counts as a "mobile game" these days? This week's (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast is once again a duo discussion between Will and me, where we go from Batman to He-Man and everything in between.

Will takes us right into it with the recent trend we've been seeing, which is mobile games launching on TV. It's not as bizarre as you might think, because Eterspire will soon be playable on Apple TV (although that does raise questions about how its controls are going to go).

If it's going to be mirrored onto a bigger screen, how good your hand-eye coordination is will determine how well you play. But if it's using your phone as a controller, how would that work? This brings to mind one of the mobile peripherals our editor-in-chief Dann reviewed called Playtiles, which sticks an adhesive onto your phone's screen to give it a more tactile controller feel.

That said, we use Netflix's Unhinged as a good example of a creative way to use your phone as part of the actual game you're playing on your TV. It's a tool you use as an actual phone to get through the game, and it's an interesting concept that we may or may not see more of in the future.

In terms of couch co-op, using phones as controllers might have a Switch-esque purpose, especially with the likes of Batman: Caped Crusader - Chronicles, where you team up with your friends to help solve crimes in Gotham City. Does it still use phones as peripherals more than as actual platforms? You be the judge!

Before we end, though, we wrap up with Masters of the Universe: Legends Unite, which, this time, uses a mobile game as a tie-in to a film. It's another kind of approach that's different from the previously mentioned projects - we just wish there was some way to grab an in-game code from the film after watching it on Amazon Luna. We can dream, can't we?

Have you ever tried coming back to a game you've abandoned for so long? How do you feel about end-game content and live ops in general? This week's (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast is a duo discussion between Will and me about everything from messy user interfaces to problematic power creep.

As I was away last episode due to TorchCon, I kick things off with a quick recap of everything that went down in Shanghai for the weekend - the highlight of which was the Torchlight Infinite devs lining up on stage to take questions from the audience. The players wasted no time in grilling them on the RPG's issues, but they bravely took it all in stride, which is extremely admirable.

Will shares his own experience playing the RPG when he reviewed it three years ago, which inevitably leads to the issue of how challenging it can be for developers to balance end-game content to keep things fresh for veteran players with newbie-friendly quests to keep barriers to entry low. 

We segue into cluttered menus and the difficulty of cramming UI elements into a small screen, with references to World of Warcraft, Diablo Immortal, Warframe, and Black Desert Mobile. Mobile optimisations and ports flow into the conversation, before the omnipresent problem of power creep, well, creeps in.

I talk about returning to Last Cloudia again after five years and feeling lost and overwhelmed, while Will shares his experience coming back to Raid: Shadow Legends and beating the main campaign.

Before we wrap up, though, we ponder the ins and outs of developers holding their own conventions for their franchises, and we end with the lovely thought of devs working passionately for these games with as much love as the players have for them too.

Have you been a recent victim of one of your favourite mobile games shutting down and leaving you in the dust? How do you feel about a possible Nintendo peripheral you can attach to your phone GameBoy-style (patent pending)? Iwan and Will launch into an in-depth conversation about all things Nintendo in this week's (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast, where they go from pondering an Apple Arcade-esque subscription service to throwing out a product proposal into the ether.

Will wastes no time diving into the heart of the matter with Mario Kart Tour shutting down in September, which means a lot of fans will soon have to look for other ways to feed their fandom before then. This leads Iwan to bring up his recent op-ed on Square Enix's own recent shutdowns on mobile, as he goes into the ins and outs of the studio's JRPGs and mobile ports through the years.

Will then sheds some light on Nintendo's strengths when it comes to retro adventures, and explains just how the e-shop and the company's online subscription work. It's all incredibly detailed, so if you've always been curious about the inner workings of the subscription, Will and Iwan both have you covered.

Inevitably, the discussion flows into how Japanese companies work, Xbox layoffs, Iwan's coverage of 2024's Tokyo Game Show, and a shoutout to his review of the GameSir Pocket Taco. All this talk gives birth to a novel idea about a new Nintendo peripheral, which they probably should patent while they can?

Suffice it to say, it's a fun little back-and-forth between the two, proving they don't really need me around! But if you're curious about where I've been, our coverage of TorchCon 2026 and Torchlight: Infinite's Afterlight season should give you an idea!

There's really no right way to come out of controversies unscathed, but have you been keeping up with the recent Love and Deepspace issue, and how do you feel about the community backlash? We dive into a healthy back-and–forth on all things mobile in this week's (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast, where, despite the serious nature of the topic, we still steer the discussion towards lighter and brighter things as the episode ends.

Now, if you're not exactly in the know about everything that's been going on in Love and Deepspace, we do talk about it in great detail this week, so just giving this episode a listen should tell you everything you need to know. It's obviously got a few more sensitive issues in there too, and we'd love to know what you personally think.

Here's something to ponder, for instance: do we need some way for the female lead to reject any unwanted advances, perhaps? Can you think of other "solutions" to this problem?

Have you played any other otome games, though? How about Tears of Themis, HoYoverse's romance detective sim that I personally love?

In any case, we somehow manage to shed light on how to install an Eject button on a spaceship before we move on to the golden era of Flash games, and before the episode ends, Bloons TD 6 gets a special mention since it went on sale on Google Play last week for a very, very low price.

Is there really such a thing as the Persona 5 collab curse? And do you prefer turn-based combat or real-time action? We dive into a healthy back-and–forth on all things mobile in this week's (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast, where we ponder the mysteries of Boomers playing mobile games and Homelander possibly professing his love for candy.

The big discussion for today is the apparent return of turn-based strategy as a trend in mobile games, where Songs of Conquest features prominently in the topic. We also shed light on overgamification and overstimulation and whether or not turn-based strategy can actually be incredibly relaxing.

This reminds me of just how much I've been enjoying Grabby Crab recently, a premium puzzler where you can take your time and strategise the best movements to clear each stage. Will and I chat a little bit about developer Tepes Ovidiu and his previous works, Is This Yours? and Almost Out of Mana, before Iwan segues into the new Call of Duty Mobile crossover with Persona 5. 

Now, apparently, there's this supposed curse that's been going on where games tend to shut down shortly after doing a collab with Persona 5 - is this a real thing, or does the franchise just have incredibly terrible luck? We'll find out soon enough, I suppose, if COD Mobile will indeed be the next casualty.

Although, it's not likely that it'll go down any time soon, especially since it's also done a crossover with the popular TV show The Boys. Our very own Iwan got to sit down with Erin Moriarty (Starlight), and if you're curious about how it all went down, you can check out his interview to get all the deets.

In any case, did you know, by the way, that Google Play actually holds big discounts on premium games from time to time? I definitely didn't, so I've probably been living under a rock all this time (although, to be fair, Iwan does mention that both Google Play and the App Store have a knack for failing to advertise their sales as much as Steam does).

How do you feel about real-world collabs? How about anime game adaptations - yay or nay? We dive into a healthy back-and–forth on all things mobile in this week's (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast, where we chat about everything from unsolved murder cases to respecting your BFF's favourite Supercell game.

Iwan gets right to it with the soft launch of Hill Climb Racing 3, which you can read all about in his first impressions piece. Suffice it to say that both he and Will find it refreshing to have something so lovably reminiscent of Flash games, and with the discussion on competitive gaming comes all the number-crunching too. 

This is how they segue into Vietnam, which is reported to be second in ranking when it comes to downloads in the world of mobile. It's inevitable that they shed some light on the nature of possible bot farms as well, but if it's all truly organic, then that's definitely a good indication of how and where the market is going.

As for upcoming projects to watch out for, a new Chainsaw Man mobile game is coming out, and while details are a little hush-hush at the moment, the teaser trailer should at least give you an idea of how it'll go. Iwan and Will then ponder the mysteries of anime adaptations on mobile, ranging from Kaiju No. 8 to One Punch Man.

Speaking of mysteries, Case Solved: The London Files is coming to iOS and Android too this summer, so if you fancy some pointing and clicking with a side of cosy paper cutout-esque visuals, this is one to add to your radar.

A bit of waffling about being hit on the head with a bag of fish and chips somehow leads to Brawl Stars' collaboration with Adidas, and whether or not that connects with you, depending on your age, will determine just how this crossover will go. Don't pick a fight with your besties over your kicks, though - that's just not cool!

What's your stance on the AI rabbit hole in games? We dive into a healthy back-and–forth on all things mobile in this week's (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast, where we chat about Netflix, 90s kids, and making sushi.

Iwan starts off all the excitement with the announcement of Dave the Diver coming to mobile, which spirals into discussions on cooking games and recipe accuracy IRL (plus shoutouts to Tales of the Neon Sea and Burrito Bison). There's also a lot of real-world stuff going on in Orange Pop!, which is intriguing enough given TV's Kenan and Kel are behind the match-3 puzzler.

Will talks about the legacy of these two 90s icons, including the charitable cause the game is connected to once it's officially launched. There are a lot of cheeky references in there too, especially when it comes to Kel's favourite drink (IYKYK). It's nice to see the seemingly wholesome energy here as opposed to just making a mobile game for marketing purposes. Is it possible the dynamic duo might want to appear in a future podcast episode to talk about Orange Pop? This is an open invitation if so!

In any case, we dive back into the catalogue of games on Netflix with Tomb of the Mask, reminding us that there's hope yet for the streaming platform and its growing library (Budget John Marston makes a comeback to the podcast too, whether we like it or not). 

Iwan caps it all off by opening a can of worms, so to speak, as he goes into detail about the use of AI in Neural Dawn. Have a look at the trailer and let us know what you think - we'd love to know!

You can listen to the podcast below, through the Spotify embed, or head over to our Spotify Page. If you fancy giving us a follow, you'll actually get the new podcasts pushed to you as they're uploaded (which means you can give them a listen before we've even got the story live on the website). 

Plus, we've been teasing more ways of getting it to you for the past months, and now the time has finally come. You can catch us on Amazon Music or on Apple Podcasts too - because life is hard enough already, and we wouldn't want you to struggle with finding us!

Did you catch all the summer games reveals over the weekend? We dive into a healthy back-and–forth on all things mobile in this week's (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast, where we're buzzing about all the new stuff that's dropped in the wonderful world of gaming.

I get the ball rolling with the announcement for Hidden Folks 2, which will be landing on mobile sometime in 2027. That might seem like it's still a long way to go, but I think it's definitely worth the wait given its lovely hand-drawn aesthetics and its mouth-based sound effects. This brings us to a discussion on hidden objects, pixel hunting, and blending in too well with the background, but before Iwan goes on a rant about that, he gets distracted by the latest round of updates for Vampire Survivors.

It's now being renamed as Vampire Survivors - First Survivaton, which goes hand-in-hand with the upcoming string of new developments that poncle will be launching around the brand. It's got Will and Iwan pretty pumped about its future on the platform, which is just one of the things that we feel works really well on mobile.

This reminds Will of Gigabash Mobile, a kaiju-based fighting game that's also been announced to arrive on mobile. We do ponder what it means to make more mobile-optimised ports, which leads us to Where Winds Meet, and Netease's upcoming third-person action-adventure, Blood Message.

There are a lot of moving parts when it comes to adapting stuff to the mobile platform and catering to mobile trends, which is why Will raises the important issue of whether or not it's healthy for games to push more limited-time events as opposed to more "traditional" DLC expansions. This will always be a point of argument for a lot of people - but what do you think, though?

Do you prefer your constant stream of monthly updates and limited-time perks, or would you rather just do the one-and-done thing of buying an expansion pack and going at your own pace?

Do you prefer going all-in on your mobile games, or are you content with the idle AFK life? We dive into a healthy back-and–forth on all things mobile in this week's (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast, where everything from Mr Burns' Monopoly money to learning Japanese through swords pops into the picture.

The big news this week is Monopoly Go's epic collab with The Simpsons, which, whether or not you're a big fan of the long-running animated series, still means there's plenty of new content to discover (and a rivalry-filled animated short at that).

Do you feel like The Simpsons has overstayed its welcome, or is it still relevant? Much like The King of Fighters AFK, do legacy franchises still make the same impact today as they did before? Regardless, the RPG is a testament to the appeal of idle gameplay, whether it's an OG fighting game like Street Fighter or a big gacha like Summoners War.

Now, mobile conversions aren't always completely different from their original versions, as Will points out with Slime Rancher. It's enjoyable enough as it is, so, as they say, if it ain't broke, why fix it?

Iwan moves things along with the announcement of Skeletor: Until Next Time, which is lovably campy, given the protagonist of the endless runner. We do wonder how big the fanbase for He-Man is at the moment, but still, it does seem to be a pretty fun runner that obviously doesn't take itself too seriously.

Endless runners will always be a thing, much like Survivors-likes on mobile these days, which is what WamojiSword is surprisingly about. It's meant to teach you a thing or two about Japanese culture and kanji, but having played it over the weekend, I realise it's also got an interesting mechanic that turns your name into a sword. It's worth giving a go if you're at all curious about Japan.

Things wind down toward the end of the episode, which Will hammers home by saying he's tired of survival crafting despite Once Human's cool new update. Does this fatigue affect you too? Or are you into big mobile endeavours like Where Winds Meet?

How much are you willing to accept ads into your life? And how do you feel about alternative app stores? We dive into a healthy back-and–forth on all things mobile in this week's (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast, where even a Kpop Demon Hunters-inspired rhythm game is suggested into the ether.

We get right into the big news about Fortnite making its big comeback into iOS App Store, which, if you're not familiar with the whole saga, is eloquently explained by Iwan right off the bat. There's a lot to be said about what this means for developers, companies, and players alike, but at the end of the day, the so-called crusade might soon come to an Epic conclusion. 

That said, what do you think about this whole battle? Do you think it's truly altruistic, or is it all just the same thing?

In any case, Will segues into Crawl Tactics next after berating me for my choices on interesting games, which is a mix of Final Fantasy Tactics and Into the Breach vibes on Netflix. Bringing up the subscription service opens up a can of worms, because we do feel like the quality of games on offer has dropped lately, save for maybe Spirit Crossing that's out now. They might still have some sort of saving grace for when a Kpop Demon Hunters game comes out sometime in the future, so fingers crossed.

All this talk about monetisation reminds me of my experience playing Guild Wars Reforged over the weekend, so I go into the specifics of just how the monetisation there works (at least, for its soft-launch phase at the moment). It does seem bizarre that it's got unlockable premium features and ads too at the same time - have any of you ever played an MMORPG with this kind of monetisation? We'd love to know.

Finally, Iwan caps it off with the latest expansion for Where Winds Meet, where you can expect to interact with 3000 NPCs across one million square meters at the Imperial Palace. It's extremely ambitious, but we don't doubt they'll pull it off.

Would you love to get a crash course on chess? Let Iwan enlighten you in this week's (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast, as we talk about why pawns should be sacrificed and what happens when Cthulhu tries to save the seas. 

Before anything else, it's worth noting that our sibling site PocketGamer.biz has just opened nominations for the Mobile Gaming Awards' People's Choice Award this year, where nominations will stay open until June 29th! Only games released between June 2025 and May 2026 are eligible, so choose wisely.

Then begins Iwan's very brief thoughts on Gambonanza, where we learn everything about chess and jokers and gambits and life. All kidding aside though, he does offer a lot of interesting thoughts on the Balatro-like, and if you're interested in how it all plays out, Iwan's review breaks it down pretty thoroughly (and so does his Gambonanza beginner's guide!).

To keep things moving, I jump into the upcoming release of Nekomancer, which is slated for release on May 31st for all your roguelike tower-defending pleasure. Will is a little spiteful that I snagged this topic from him - as he is the Number One Tower Defence Fan over at PG Towers - but it's all good because the title is very pun-ny and we love it.

Defences and dolphins segue into Cthulhu and the cosmic horror's appearance in Monopoly, where it's all about the WDC (Whale & Dolphin Conservation Center) and its efforts to save the whales. 20% of each purchase of the collaboration bundles will go directly to the WDC, so if you've always wanted to do your part to conserve nature (with the help of some eldritch friends), now's your chance.

Lending others a helping hand is also the central theme in Spirit Crossing, this cosy new multiplayer adventure that's out now on Netflix. You help fulfil quests for cute spirits here and build bonds with them along the way, and while it doesn't have the most original concept, its Ghibli-esque vibes make it pretty distinct as it is.

Finally, Will caps it all off with Dead Be The Fallen, where, while it does seem like it's got some pretty obvious AI-generated visuals, it might be your cup of tea if you're looking for a stylised monochrome FPS horror on your phone.

Did you grow up slicing away at virtual fruit in Fruit Ninja? And have you seen the latest Resident Evil trailer? This week's (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast is once again sponsored by the lovely folks who love some tennis-related fun, so we dabble in a little bit of fun (and cringe) ourselves.

To kick things off, we dive right into the epic return of the sponsored segment brought to you by Roland Garros eSeries 2026 by Renault - the world’s biggest and most thrilling eTennis competition, endorsed by the French Tennis Federation! If you don't want to miss out on all the action, be sure to tune in to the finals on May 23rd on YouTube.

What you might want to miss out on is Iwan's cringey tennis pun…but he makes up for it by segueing professionally into Racing Master, which is out now on iOS and Android. I fail to come up with any kind of commentary for that, given I know nothing about cars, so it's Felix the Reaper that I talk about instead!

This is actually near and dear to my heart because it's the very first game I reviewed for Pocket Gamer back in 2020, so it's a big throwback to the good ol' days for me. It's in pre-registration on Android right now, where you play as a lovestruck reaper manipulating shadows to make sure mortals meet their ultimate demise.

All this darkness inspires Will to segue into Meg's Monster, which is a heartwarming pixel-art RPG where you try your best to keep a little girl from crying - because when she does, the world ends (as it should). The mobile version is out now with plenty of warm and fuzzy feelings in its narrative too.

Iwan then leaps into fruit-slicing with Fruit Ninja Adventures and its pre-registration phase, but not before making us feel old once again by recounting just how young he is.

I can't complain, though, because Diablo Immortal is collaborating with my beloved StarCraft until June 10th - and it's nice to see Blizzard still giving Kerrigan some love after all this time.

And speaking of time, Will walks us through Cookie Run: Kingdom’s Timeline of Fate update and the two new Cookies that go along with it - including our guide on the best Timekeeper Cookie Toppings and Beascuits!

Before we wrap up, though, we gush about the new Resident Evil trailer that's just come out - have a look yourself and let us know what you think!

Do you have multiple shirts of your favourite fandom to prove you're not a fake fan? Which game character lives in your head rent-free? This week's (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast sees the epic return of Iwan the Newshound to the airwaves, with plenty of gamescom LatAm news upon his triumphant comeback.

And because he wants us out of the way to give the people what they want, I kick things off with Streets of Rage 4 as the freebie of the week for the Epic Games Store on mobile. Will then claims copyright on the idea of bears scuffling out on the streets before segueing into MapleStory: Idle RPG's half-anniversary, in which we ponder the ins and outs of half-year celebrations and the omnipresent laser of doom some mobile games fall victim to.

And speaking of the laser of doom, Will himself becomes its latest victim as his literal microphone gives out, leaving Iwan the perfect opportunity to grab the figurative mic to talk about where he's been the past few days - and that's at gamescom Latin America!

There's a lot to run through, and you'll be able to read more about Iwan's coverage in the next few days, but he does mention Alan Mandujano from Pokémon Go, along with Airdorf and just how vibrant the mobile games scene over there is (which may or may not include haze in the air from grilled burgers).

One of the projects of note is Rogue Reigns, which is an upcoming roguelike deckbuilder that Iwan talks about in more detail in his interview with the devs.

Iwan also gives us a few recommendations of things to have on our radar, which include Sunny Trails, where you play as the goddess Amaterasu (Okami vibes, anyone?).

Before I'm able to silence Iwan to keep him from spoiling his own previews, Will offers a lovely way to end the episode with the Month of Meh in Hello Kitty Island Adventure, which means I get to talk about my love for Gudetama for free (I do wish I did silence Iwan and cut him off from the episode entirely only because he intentionally mispronounces Gudetama's name just to spite me).

How random do you want your randomised runs to go? Who is your poster Pokemon for Fighting-types, and would you prefer to subscribe to your games rather than buy them outright? This week's (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast is a tad more professional as Iwan's away and dead to us (kidding - he's off to gamescom and we miss him), but Will and I have lots of news to share too because mobile is always where it's at!

Since it's just the two of us, we waste no time in diving right in with Dicero, which is Habby's latest project that's out now on iOS and Android. It's a roguelike adventure made even more random with its dice-based attacks, where you roll to determine how your turns will go. We talk a bit about how procedurally generated elements make us feel, before Will tells me just how punny the title of "Dicero" actually is (because it completely goes over my head).

That leads us to Battle Fate and its impressive strategic depth, which is also out now on iOS and Android for all your turn-based tactical pleasure. The solo-developed passion project is built for mobile and supposedly features an impressive amount of content for its reasonable price tag - Will's going to be making a review for this too, so do keep that on your radar if you're curious!

We discuss the ins and outs of indies versus mega-hits for a bit before I move on to Pokemon TCG Pocket's latest expansion, and because I've been away from this for far too long, I now have no idea how I'm supposed to catch up. Pulsing Aura is headlining Fighting-type Pokemon (without Machamp, it seems), and Will offers his hot take about how he just doesn't understand why Lucario is so popular.

Finally, Will segues into the launch of Inmost on Google Play Pass, which brings us to the question of whether or not subscription services are actually effective in this day and age.

Before we end, though, we have to plug our upcoming coverage of gamescom, as Iwan's got his boots on the ground to bring you all the latest happenings over there! Stay tuned!

Would you rather defend yourself against brain-eating zombies or inherently evil penguins? And are you smart enough to draft a legally binding contract when making a deal with the devil? We are incredibly professional in this week's (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast, where we discuss the ins and outs of embargoed news with the least waffles possible.

Iwan the Yellow takes a step back for the first half of the episode as I start the recording with a bang - and that's with Petit Planet and its Stardrift Test that's launching today. The cosy life sim from HoYoverse gave me a lot of The Little Prince vibes when I played the media access, and it's exactly as advertised. 

Meanwhile, Will takes things into a darker turn with hordes of the undead in Tiles Survive, which is celebrating a whopping 20 million players - that's how many people have been trying to fend off the zombie apocalypse all these years. This brings us to a quick discussion on what other horrors out there we should be defending ourselves against, whether that's sloth-based invasions or seemingly innocent penguins.

What's definitely something we should be wary of is the darkness of the unknown, which is what you'll be up against in Among the Sleep. The first-person horror lets you step into the wobbly feet of a helpless two-year-old, and if that's the kind of vulnerability you want in your horror games, then you'd best sign up during its pre-registration phase right now.

Will segues into making demonic pacts somehow within Old School RuneScape, where he goes into great detail about the Leagues VI event that runs until June 10th. And finally, Iwan ends the episode with his big news of the week, which is the launch of Dragon Quest Smash/Grow. 

It doesn't take long for him to express how he truly feels about it, which is a combination of many different kinds of emotions only Iwan knows best (we've got a handy beginner's guide up if you're keen!).

*Content warning: the latter part of this episode talks about sensitive themes from Doki Doki Literature Club. There will be a trigger warning before that segment begins.

Is there a fine line between censorship and freedom of speech? And can you play eTennis and eFootball and have fun even as a complete noob? There's a lot to cover in this week's (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast, where we go from happy to serious and back in a matter of minutes.

We are once again ecstatic to have the Roland-Garros eSeries by Renault as our sponsor this week, so we talk about the event as we begin - and I have to say that after Will and I played a few matches with each other in Tennis Clash, we did actually have a lot of fun! Honestly, it's ideal even for complete tennis newbies like me.

Because we're gearing up for a pretty serious topic later on in the episode, Iwan kicks off our regular rotation with the latest update within Arknights: Endfield - something that Iwan's had a lot of experience with, given the RPG's media event. We do also have a comprehensive guide on every single Operator, so do check that out if you're keen! 

That moves us on (and with minimal waffling to boot) to Cookie Run: Kingdom's KPop Demon Hunters collaboration, which is an absolutely massive deal if you're a fan of Cookies (and Netflix's derpy tiger). The crossover is running until May 6th, and if you don't want no FOMO, you'd best get on the bandwagon too.

Now, Will's topic is much more in sync with our sponsored segment, which is eFootball and its amazing feat of hitting 1 billion downloads. There's a lot of celebratory stuff going on, and with an odd but welcome TenSura collab - because who says only Cookie Run can mix and match IPs?

After slightly touching upon random stuff like Mortal Kombat and the like, we do move on to our sensitive topic for this episode: Doki Doki Literature Club getting pulled from Google Play. 

I have to include a trigger warning from this point on if you're listening to the episode, as we'll talk about sensitive themes on mental health, as well as spoil the narrative for DDLC. So if you prefer not knowing, thank you for listening up to this point, and we'll hopefully see you again next week.

Do you think dragons are inherently evil? And how do you feel about physical toys manifesting as digital characters on your mobile device? I'm on time today to join Will and Chief Iwan in this week's (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast, where we dabble in existentialism with what's villainous and what's not.

Iwan wastes absolutely no time in diving right into the dungeons of Dragon Ruins, which looks like a pretty hardcore dungeon-crawling adventure that's out now on iOS and Android. There's a lot to be said about the visuals that add to its distinct vibe - so much so that Iwan and Will go off into an incredible tangent that I can't, for the life of me, figure out how to edit out or leave in for the sake of keeping this episode sane.

That said, I do somehow wrestle the conversation into Alien Morgue and its questionable moral choices, where you dissect alien corpses ala-Papers, Please across a quirky medical sim. I played this one over the weekend and actually found it quite interesting.

Thankfully, before we get into another tangent, Will moves on to Pikuniku and its mobile launch courtesy of Crunchyroll Game Vault, which lets you take on the role of an oblong-shaped blob with legs on a quest to, as Will puts it, escape the overarching Sword of Damocles that is capitalism. 

That villainous segue leads Iwan to Disney Speedstorm’s Villainous Ever After update, where we ponder the question of whether or not Shan Yu from Mulan would win in a death match against all other Disney villains and why he isn't in a horse-shaped car.

Speaking of Disney, I used to play Disney Infinity back in the day, but NFC tech never really took off as well as it should've back then. Aerthlings seems determined to revive that toys-to-life feel with its physical mystery boxes that you scan into the RPG, and before things spiral out of control again, Will successfully ends the episode with a lovely update on Pokemon Go's Replay: Go Bigger event this month (because Blastoise apparently needs more cannons to blast).

Have we truly won in life, and will we truly never have to work ever again? And am I going to pop up midway through the episode and ruin Will and Iwan's mojo? Join us in this week's (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast, where we ponder everything important in life from crunchy cookies to classic clay.

Iwan and Will lament my absence for a bit - conveniently neglecting to tell me about this turn-back-time world-altering clock change thing that I wasn't aware of - before playing a quick game of Twenty Questions (prices have gone down? no?) as to what the first big news of the day is - and that is Elder Scrolls: Blades shutting down on mobile. 

Iwan gives us the lowdown on what it's all about and what might've contributed to it getting shuttered, but Will offers a 10/10 segue into the CRKD Atom+ controller and why you might just need something like this to help you fiddle with the touchscreen. 

Will eases Iwan's bad mood (he's only had three hours of sleep, so we'll cut him a little slack) by throwing the idea out into the ether of a Pokeball-style Bluetooth controller, before they both make it to Clay Jam Classic and our interview with the developers. It alleviates Iwan's struggles for a bit, gives Will the perfect opportunity to make a dad joke, and makes me realise how much they miss me when I'm away (aww, I miss them too).

In between a teeny tiny bit of waffling, they move on to Clans of London and its upcoming launch, but somehow, Will convinces Iwan that nobody lives in Santa Monica, and Iwan completely agrees with no opposing opinions at all.

Now, this is actually the part where I finally step in, fashionably late and completely out of sorts, to talk about the launch of Cookie Run: Ovensmash - which our resident expert Cristina has already mastered and created guides for! There's one for every Cookie, so be sure to check out the Ovensmash hub on the site if you're looking to get a slice of the pie (er, cookie).

This brings us to other healthy delights like bacon, which is the star of Bacon in Zane - the most lovably bizarre iOS adventure that's landed on our news desk lately. You essentially make your way through the human body as a piece of bacon, and, well…the concept honestly sells itself.

Oh and there's Paranoize too - a fully voiced cinematic comic with creature-collecting features - that's out now.

And before we end, I think it's a great time to mention that Pocket Gamer is currently celebrating its 20th anniversary this year! Can you believe PG is now 20 years old? If you're eager to take a stroll down memory lane with us, we've got a series of retrospective features on the site right now - there's even one where we, the lovable humans behind keyboards, talk about the year we joined and our favourite mobile games of that year.

Thank you for being with us all these years, and we hope to see you for many more years to come!

How much are you willing to pay for a premium mobile game? Are seagulls inherently evil, and are hamsters meant to save the world? In this week's (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast, we try to stay on track despite a little bit of Dishonored creeping in from time to time (and Will staring at his desk, plus Iwan munching on some panda-shaped cookies).

Iwan and Will talk about rats, defences, and being an assassin who's not allowed to kill people before moving on to Urban Myth Dissolution Center, which, while it has a pretty intriguing supernatural premise, does seem to be on the steeper side when it comes to its price tag.

That brings us to bureaucracy and agents of chaos, which inevitably leads us to evil seagulls (of course). Crazy Tractor is all about man vs seagull, and if you too believe they're wicked watchers of the sky, you can give it a go too.

Just in case a rogue seagull gets you, you might want to turn to some unlicensed medical advice with Potion Permit, which is the charming freebie on the Epic Games Store this week. Will talks about taking responsibility for your actions before Iwan airs out his grievances about mobile ports, which then segues into an incredibly chaotic intro to Annulus (with more waffles in between).

The art style of the strategy RPG makes us ponder what judging the proverbial book by its cover actually means in video games, but we're all really interested to see how this is going to be monetised once it's officially released.

And because there's just no possible way to segue from that to hamsters, there's Mochi-O! It's all about a hamster-of-mass-destruction that's equal parts fun and equal parts morally questionable, but it's that kind of chaos that makes it appealing. 

Finally, Will takes us into all things relevant with Vampire Crawlers, which is launching on April 21st on PC and consoles and on mobile to follow. If you're interested in the dungeon-crawling, card-slinging, and vampire-crawling mayhem that poncle's switching up its popular franchise with, this one is definitely one to watch.

How do you feel about collabs, cinematic trailers, and off-cam opinions? Both literal and figurative connection problems surface in this week's (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast, where we kick off in a hurry because Iwan has someplace to be (not really).

After Will and I contemplate a quick game of eTennis off-cam, Iwan haughtily shows us his indignation that we have no respect for his time by leaping right into Blue Protocol: Star Resonance, which is collaborating with not one but two anime franchises this year (plus a mysterious third).

Will then tries to find his opinions elsewhere before I bring up Mongil: Star Dive and its upcoming launch on April 15th. I'm pretty sure it'll be worth the wait - and I also appreciate how Will and Iwan waited for me after my connection got cut off for the briefest moment (let's just say I tried to find opinions elsewhere too).

Then, Will moves on to the OneRepublic collab within PUBG Mobile, which is celebrating its 8th anniversary alongside a MrBeast and a Jujutsu Kaisen event (but not before Iwan completely ruins my audio levels for this episode). 

He does steer the conversation back to Void Hunters and its upcoming launch, in which Iwan schools us in the proper way of delivering the news - "simple, concise, and enthusiastic", as he puts it.

We talk a bit about disappointing cinematic trailers before I launch into my next topic, which is that DC: Dark Legion is running a Dark Nights: Death Metal event until March 27th to celebrate its first anniversary - and it's pretty cool if you're a fan of the Batman/Joker hybrid from the comics' storyline.

Before we wrap up, Will gives us the lowdown on the new Smurfs x Sonic Rumble Party collab (which we also have an interview on regarding its name change), but Iwan ruins it all by offering an unsolicited joke about Smurfs that simply goes over our heads completely.

Are you a fan of subscriptions, and what do you consider to be an actual "tower defence" game? Things flow pretty smoothly in this week's (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast, where the topics actually aren't as chaotic as they usually turn out to be.

Surprisingly, we get right to it with the recent changes to Google Play's store fees, which have been a bit of an "epic" saga over the years. If you're not familiar with the whole thing, Iwan offers a quick explanation that should get you up to speed.

After Will airs out his woes against Apple Arcade, we move to Moonlight Peaks for some reason, which - despite being a genre I'm not entirely a fan of - is actually incredibly interesting thanks to its premise. You play as Dracula's daughter out to build a peaceful life away from vampirism in the countryside, which is intriguing enough to catch my attention ahead of its July 7th release.

The subject matter gives Will enough to go on with Wicked Defense, a new roguelike "tower defence" battler where you defend but don't really build towers. Does it still count as tower defence in that case? I suppose it's up to you to decide, but our resident TD expert, Will, certainly doesn't think so.

Now, it wouldn't be a regular podcast if Will didn't interrupt Iwan every chance he gets, so after a bit of disruptive fun, Iwan segues into Overcooked coming to Netflix Games. It's the perfect litmus test to see if your relationships can withstand a heated match, and in the Netflix edition, you get to see guest chefs from popular franchises within the subscription service's properties.

Then, before we end up going nowhere with another segue, we move right into Nowhere Prophet's official launch, which is a totally cool-looking roguelike card battler with an even cooler soundtrack. It's got all three of us really interested to give it a go, so if that's any indication of a game's appeal, you might want to put this on your radar too.

Will then wraps things up with the launch of Arranger on iOS and Android outside of Netflix. The art style is similar to Braid, which Will also reviewed on top of his Arranger review on the site. It's an interesting puzzler if you're looking for a change of pace in the genre, because you literally get to arrange the world.

But before we end the episode, Iwan picks my brain about the regional soft launch of Overwatch Rush, which I felt like was actually pretty newbie-friendly for noob little me.

You can listen to the podcast below, through the Spotify embed, or head over to our Spotify Page. If you fancy giving us a follow, you'll actually get the new podcasts pushed to you as they're uploaded (which means you can give them a listen before we've even got the story live on the website). 

Plus, we've been teasing more ways of getting it to you for the past months, and now the time has finally come. You can catch us on Amazon Music or on Apple Podcasts too - because life is hard enough already, and we wouldn't want you to struggle with finding us!

Did you use to play games that were way above the recommended age for you, and how would you feel about an X-Men character that hails from your nation?

We try our hardest to be professional in this week's (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast, which is brought to you courtesy of the Roland-Garros eSeries by Renault 2026!

We celebrate our entry into the big leagues by offering a sneak peek at what Tennis Clash has in store for you over the next few months, with the first round of the tournament qualification kicking off tomorrow. Iwan and Will would've delivered the sponsorship flawlessly if I hadn't inadvertently messed up Will's lines towards the end thanks to Google's shared docs (but he still managed to stick the landing with a flourish!).

That said, there's a lot to look forward to as the tournament runs throughout April until the final stage on May 23rd, so stay tuned as we talk more about it in the episodes to come!

With that, Iwan dives into the first news topic for the episode with Eras of Wrestling's mobile launch. It supposedly takes you through a variety of periods throughout the history of wrestling, and while Will throws the idea of a wrestling gacha game out into the ether, I move on to the launch of Reigns: The Witcher.

The latest version of the popular Reigns franchise will have you embellishing Geralt's tale through Dandelion the Bard, and all you have to do is swipe left or right to try to survive for as long as you possibly can before you end up in a ditch somewhere in the Continent. 

We do the usual serving of waffles about the perils of growing old and the right age to be playing Skyrim before Will lightens the mood with Pokemon Go's 10th anniversary (and Pokemon's 30th anniversary!). There's plenty to explore within the Kanto region, so if you're eager to go back to the franchise's roots, now's the perfect time to do just that.

Iwan then impossibly segues from Pokemon to Welsh national pride somehow, telling us all about the latest update within Marvel Contest of Champions. This spirals into Iwan's indignation that Will dares to question Jean Grey's multiple deaths, but the good news is that Pixie, being a Welsh mutant, brings Iwan back in good spirits.

Of course, Will never fails to trigger Iwan at every opportunity, so "Iwan the Welsh" passes the ball to me with Neverness to Everness and its upcoming launch on April 29th. All three of us are pretty excited about this one, especially since it's got an interesting blend of elements and a fresh monetisation model.

And finally, Will wraps it all up with the announcement for Kingdom Rush 6: Genesis, which is still all hush-hush at the moment. Will is our resident KR expert, though, so if you're curious about the other entries in the franchise while you wait, you can take a peek at his Kingdom Rush series ranking for more.

Do you prefer games that offer exactly what's on the tin, and who's responsible for making sure songs are present when "songs" are in the title? We tackle everything from dark folklore to FOMO in this week's (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast!

Will tries to impersonate Iwan's very "classy" voice for a bit before Iwan kicks off with Songs of Conquest, which is set to launch its first story-focused DLC, Rise Eternal, on March 5th.  There's a deep backstory that Iwan dives into for the whole thing, but, of course, Will focuses instead on the actual title of the turn-based strategy.

Speaking of aptly titled adventures, there's Hatch Dragons, where you, well, hatch dragons. This is scheduled to launch on March 5th too, so if you're looking to collect cute dragons rather than more violent ones, this cosy sim should be right up your alley.

We bring some waffles along for the ride for a bit when it comes to these majestic mythological creatures, before Will segues into Residual - the Epic Games Store freebie of the week. It once again may not be the most aptly titled quest out there, but it is indeed pretty epic, with survival-driven platforming gameplay that focuses on exploration instead of combat.

Iwan oh-so-generously gives us a handy little tip about the Epic Games Store library before launching into a discussion on Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse, Square Enix's new premium mystery that's out now on iOS and Android. It's got an interesting mechanic that lets you examine the world around you in 360 degrees, which of course segues into merfolk and Iwan's dark interpretation of European lore.

That leads us to Almost Out of Mana, a minimalist puzzler where you, er, almost run out of mana. That's the ultimate goal, really - try to survive with enough mana intact and see if you can handle the pressure (as expected from the developer of Is This Yours?).

And finally, Will talks about Old School Runescape's Deadman Annihilation contest that's recently wrapped up, proving just how much you need to tune into Iwan's news articles on the site to avoid missing out on all the latest happenings.

How much do you love cookies, and do you truly, truly believe in yourself? We tackle everything from confectionery to waffles in this week's (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast, where our trio is complete and back for more mobile mayhem.

After an extremely chaotic intro where Iwan throws us off completely, Will lobs a helpful segue (that Iwan doesn't catch) with Where Winds Meet's Hexi expansion. There's plenty to look forward to once it launches on March 6th, and while they both ponder the intricacies of where winds actually meet, I offer another exciting thing to look forward to in March - CookieRun: Ovensmash.

This colourful new MOBA takes everyone's favourite cookies and drops them into an urban fantasy setting, where they can duke it out Brawl Stars-style. There's a bit of waffling about these cool cookies and their tortured pasts before Will eases us into Dark Mage Defense, which adapts the webtoon 66,666 Years: Advent of the Dark Mage into a roguelike RPG.

That's out now, and while Iwan does some fumbling of his own (and gets distracted by the book nook on his desk), he successfully manages to steer the conversation back to Darkside Detective: A Fumble in the Dark. As the Epic Games freebie of the week, it sees you navigating through strange cases once more as detective Francis McQueen and officer Patrick Dooley.

These cases are pretty bite-sized, and if you're into short experiences on mobile, perhaps Dear Me, I Was… might appeal to you. This evocative tale takes you through the ordinary life of an ordinary woman, but there's certainly nothing ordinary about its message and its visuals.

The vibes give us plenty of sad feels for a bit, so Will counters the blues with Pocket Golf Tournament and its mobile launch, before finally wrapping things up by reiterating the power of believing in ourselves in this complicated thing we call life.

Are you a fan of open-world shenanigans? And are you subscribed to any kind of games service at the moment? I'm away on this week's (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast, so Iwan and Will take a quick moment to lament my absence from the episode before jumping right into Sea of Remnants, which has now launched its closed alpha test. It makes use of a lot of niche pirate elements and that Jinx-like trope - we're still hoping this'll come to mobile in a Once Human-esque kind of way, so fingers crossed.

After a bit of thought on how rag-tag pirate crews are supposed to be formed, Will segues into Neverness to Everness' Co-Ex Test, with pre-registration now live on iOS and Android. This inevitably leads to a conversation about Grand Theft Auto and the philosophy of open-world experiences.

There's surprisingly a tad less waffling between here and the next topic, which is Heartopia and the cosy sim's My Little Pony collaboration. Of course, the waffles come a second later with Evangelion and the Decepticons, but Iwan does manage to steer the topic back on track with the pre-launch login event and mini-games that are now available ahead of the crossover's release. 

Finally, Will wraps things up with The Case of the Golden Idol's departure from Netflix Games, but thankfully, you can still play this visually distinct point-and-click adventure on iOS and Android.

Iwan dives into what might be Netflix's plan for these mobile games in the long run, because contrary to what the streaming service seems to be doing, Crunchyroll knows its market and what it's going for. I suppose only time will truly tell.

Do you like playing bite-sized games on a daily basis when you're running late for work? We want to be right on time on this week's (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast despite failing to record on the first of the month, and because we don't want to be late, Iwan gets right to it with Heartopia's collaboration with My Little Pony. It'll no doubt be an interesting mix of cosy vibes and Valentine's Day air, so if you're looking to bask in all the love this month, this is one to watch.

Will and Iwan show off their love-hate relationship for a bit before we happily move on to Reigns: The Witcher after a terrible segue, in which you swipe left or right to make choices that may or may not lead to your death (not IRL, of course, as Iwan rightly points out). 

There's a big heaping of waffles from here to the next point, including but not limited to Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and baking. But we get there eventually, and by "there", I mean PUBG Mobile's collab with The King of Fighters. Mai Shiranui, Iori Yagami and Nakoruru will be joining the fray, which helps Iwan segue into Goddess of Victory: Nikke and its own crossover with the popular anime Lycoris Recoil.

After giving us a brief overview of the anime's premise, Iwan offers a sweet little shoutout to his auntie about some Cowboy Bebop-related feels, which is how we segue into the sweetness of Candy Crush spin-off Crushable on Yahoo Games and its self-aware ad starring Frankie Muniz. 

And finally, Will rounds it up with the iOS launch of Cosmic Royale, but not before leaving us with some words of wisdom about being a good sport on the racetrack and the true meaning of winning.

If someone tells you not to push the button, will you push it? Will you? Will you?

So apparently, we did manage to escape the corruption that's crept into Pocket Gamer Towers last week, because we're back with more news to serve up with this week's (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast - starting with the big news of Silt's launch. Will's apparently trying to brighten up our Monday with something that's…supposedly more terrifying than anything in and out of this world, so if you're feeling down, you can try and fight off the Monday blues with a healthy dose of schadenfreude (it's a real thing).

After pondering the mysteries of reverse psychology (we like to keep the discussion highly intellectual here), Iwan steers us into Vampire Crawlers' upcoming demo. Poncle's really got us all fired up (and by "we", I mean Iwan) with their upcoming project, but if you're itching to give it a go yourself, you'll have to wait until Steam Next Fest in February.

Thankfully, you won't have to wait for this one as Arknights Endfield is out now across the globe, which is something a lot of people really seem to be enjoying lately as the hip and cool new thing on mobile. We've got guides on the site for practically every single thing you might want to know about, so have a look if you're keen!

Will then moves on to the launch of Dwarves: Glory, Death and Loot, which is an auto-battler that teaches you not to discriminate against dwarves and their roles in life. Iwan backs it up by declaring on the top of his hill about his favourite Lord of the Rings character, which Will and I support 100% (good on you, Iwan).

As for supporting home-grown causes, Prime Rush is an upcoming project from Supergaming that we've got our eye on. It'll hopefully bring something new to the table across the saturated genre, and it's now open for pre-registration on Android if you're curious about it too.

But if you'd rather get your hands on something that's out right now, Gumslinger 2: Ducks & Nukes can satisfy your bloodlust (or gummy-lust?) with some hilarious physics-based duels, where you get to fight to the death but with gummies.

And finally, we wrap up the episode with a whole bunch of fourth-wall-breaking fun as Crushed in Time gets a new trailer, so if you're looking for something a bit more meta to spice up your mobile adventures, this one might be one to watch.

What is your deepest fear, and how do you turn it around and make a living out of it? Things take an unexpectedly dark turn in this week's (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast, where it's all about minding the gap and paying the rent sprinkled with a healthy serving of waffles in between.

We start with the big news that Subway Surfers City is now in pre-registration, offering a sequel-slash-spin-off of the popular endless runner with an expanded world. Will raises a good point that part of what makes the franchise so great is its straightforwardness (he's always ready to defend someone's honour with his bare fists and we love him for it, as you'll hear pretty quickly in a few minutes!).

In any case, there are no misleading ads for Subway Surfers so far, so it's very much a WYSIWYG kind of deal, and that's always a good thing. That brings us to something where we're just not quite sure what we're going to get at the moment, which is Palworld's upcoming Trading Card Game. 

Launching (hopefully on mobile) on July 30th, the TCG is curiously going to add its trademark base-building elements into the mix as well, so while we do wonder about Pokemon's inspirations (inevitably), we also look forward to what fresh new thing Palworld's going to bring to the table.

Poor little indie franchise Pokemon needs all the defence it can get, after all, so we try our best to differentiate the two to give them both justice. I know - we're all noble warriors and valiant defenders of the weak over here at PG Towers.

Speaking of weakness, the hapless little beans from Dumb Ways to Die are back as the freebie of the week for the Epic Games Store, so if you want to feel like a proper saviour and the ultimate champion of metro safety, now's your chance.

Iwan takes every opportunity to make Will and I feel ancient in this podcast, so he goes on to talk about The Seven Deadly Sins: Origin and its delayed release. Now launching in March, it's supposedly taking its sweet time tweaking the finer aspects of the RPG to make it more enjoyable for the community, so here's hoping it'll be worth the wait.

That said, there's no logical way for me to segue into A Webbing Journey, but I do it anyway - this lovely little gem is out now to subvert your arachnophobia. You'll play as a helpful spider on a quest to lend humans a hand (or a hairy leg), doing everything from making popcorn to watering the plants, which might just mean this could be an alternate origin story for everyone's favourite friendly neighborhood Marvel webslinger.

And finally, we try to end the episode on a positive note with Goblin Sushi, but because it's all about trying to make ends meet so you can pay your endless rent for your relentless landlord, things spiral into darkness with a proper reference to George Orwell's depressing ending for Animal Farm. 

Will we ever escape the corruption? Tune in next week to find out.

What Pokemon would make a great window scraper? We're back to kick off the new year in this week's (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast - we hope you missed us as much as we missed you!

We stretch, warm up, and dust off our mics as Iwan takes us into the upcoming launch of Order of Kings, where you can look forward to discovering more about why the Three Kingdoms period is such a big hit for games (and rightly so). Will does point out a common issue with the genre though, which is whether or not the base-building aspect takes priority over the actual strategic warfare. We'll get back to that again in a minute (or more than a minute, if you know how much we like waffles around here).

That said, Will moves on to a strategy-adjacent update for this teeny tiny indie gem called League of Legends: Wild Rift, where two heroes are joining the fight (and that's always fun). One more hero joining the fight is everyone's favourite sky bison Appa, who's now making his debut in Avatar Legends: Realms Collide as part of the new Companions feature.

We waffle on a bit about blue aliens and avatars before we move on to a gruesome crime within Play Together, where Mr Hotdog's gone missing to everyone's absolute horror. Whether or not he's rotting in a ditch somewhere (he's not) remains to be seen, but if you're looking for something else to distract you from the crime, Will offers Bouncemasters as a lighthearted alternative.

Now free on the Epic Games Store for the week, this arcade-y adventure will have you playing as a lovable penguin on a quest for something not as lovable, which is to spy on another penguin with the help of his polar bear BFF. If you're curious about the quirky and almost horrific premise behind this one, Will gives a pretty accurate explanation that's too bizarre not to be true.

In any case, we end the episode with the end of another game, sadly, as Pandoland will soon shut its doors this March. Not even Game Freak can save this one, apparently, which is proof that not everything the studio touches turns into Pokemon Gold.

What's your favourite game of 2025? Any upcoming releases you're looking forward to in 2026? Let's end the year with a bang with a very special episode of the (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast, where we take a quick look back on the greatest hits (and misses) over the past twelve months!

It's actually been a big year for mobile with a lot more to come, including the upcoming release of Arknights: Endfield, some Monument Valley shenanigans, and the whole Netflix x Warner Bros x Paramount kerfuffle.

Iwan continues with some big hits in the form of the Stardew Valley x Infinity Nikki crossover, Subnautica's launch, and Squid Game Unleashed going MIA, before Will reminisces about Suzerain and the consequences of his choices that will remain with him forever. He then gushes about Warframe which has a definite year-round appeal, before he literally slides away into the abyss.

It's my turn to gush about my favourite pick of the year, which is The Longing - and you have to spend 400 actual days IRL to finish the whole thing. You can't speedrun this one, but speaking of, Iwan speedruns through the most notable news of 2025 like Dredge, Disco Elysium, and Star Wars Hunters, before we wrap things up for the final episode of the year.

Thank you so much for sticking around and listening to us serve up the news with a side of goofiness, and we hope you'll keep hanging out with us for all things mobile next year and beyond!

How do you spend your holidays gaming-wise, and is Santa Claus at all safe? Grab some eggnog or cosy up with a cup of tea as we welcome you all to a very special episode of the (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast!

After confirming exactly why this is the most wonderful time of the year (and expressing our genuine concern over Santa Claus' safety), we get right to it as Iwan recommends The Darkside Detective if you're in the mood for some spooky-slash-goofy tones while you chill by the fireplace this month. The point-and-click adventure has plenty of cosy moments despite its titular darkside-ness - or if you're looking for something more mainstream, Balatro is always a good pick.

Vampire Survivors is one of Iwan's go-to options too, but for something more laidback and a little less frantic, Neko Atsume is my own top pick for the season. The idle nature of this kitty collector will have you laying out toys and treats for stray cats in a desperate attempt to win their love - and if they do deem you worthy of their time and attention, they'll leave you fish that you can then use to buy them even more treats. 

It's a loop you'll want to get trapped in especially if you fancy logging in, setting up treats, then logging out and going about your day before checking in every once in a while whenever you feel like it. Plus, cat masters. 'Nuff said.

As for Will, he does a complete one-eighty with Maneater, where you basically roam the seas as an apex predator and eat people just because. And if you're wondering how exactly that relates to Christmas, then you'll have to tune in to find out (just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water).

Will also leaves us with a heartwarming message this Christmas, so even if we're still not entirely sure about Santa's whereabouts at the moment, we at least end this holiday special with some warm and fuzzy feelings before we sign off.

Are you a fan of waifu games and Metroidvanias, and what is the meaning of life? We tackle everything from the state of the world we live in to the overall plot of Star Wars in this week's (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast.

We kick things off with a quick game of "how many Christmas metaphors can Will blurt out in three seconds" before Iwan drops the big news on Umamusume: Pretty Derby winning Mobile Game of the Year at The Game Awards, along with Wuthering Waves bagging an award with the Player's Voice category. 

It's a fantastic way of celebrating what makes mobile great, which inevitably includes waifus - and this is where Will's news on Snowbreak: Containment Zone comes in. There's plenty of outfits to get a hold of in the latest update too, so if you fancy celebrating the holidays in style, this might be one to watch.

Speaking of things that have tons of style, Dead Cells is the freebie of the week for the Epic Games Store, which is honestly levelling up its catalog, in my opinion. It's free to grab until the 19th, and you don't even need to be logged in to the store after downloading it to play it.

We go pretty meta with our transitions and sound effects for a bit before Iwan perfectly transitions into a new Star Wars CCG in the works, and after we waffle on a tad about Star Wars losing its plot, Will throws out the existential question of how PUBG has suddenly become THE game for sportscars.

Before things get too bleak when it comes to cars exploding and the overall fate of humanity, let's segue into Cozy Caravan and restore our faith in the world with its cute critters and overall cosiness. Similar adventures like Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing have never really been my thing (I'm so sorry!), but with the stop-motion-esque animation in Cozy Caravan, I might just give this sim a try. 

How do you feel about the big Netflix x Warner Bros kerfuffle, and do you think you deserve a visit from three ghosts this Christmas? We tackle everything from Hello Kitty's supposedly dark past to really old lizard-looking sugar monsters in this week's (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast.

As we ponder the intricacies of a bearded stranger breaking into people's houses uninvited this Christmas season, Iwan kicks things off with what's arguably the biggest news of the past week, which is Netflix's planned acquisition of Warner Bros. There's no doubt going to be a whole bunch of stuff to consider when it comes to the subscription service's catalog of games on mobile, but it'll also no doubt take ages before anything solidifies, so we'll all just have to keep tuning in to find out.

That said, what's certain this week is the launch of Hello Kitty and Friends World, which is exactly what it says on the tin - you decorate the popular kitty's world along with her pals, and what's even more interesting is that all of the Sanrio characters are already immediately unlocked from the start. It essentially removes microtransactions, given it's supposed to be targeted toward kids, which is a lovely change of pace.

But if you're looking for something that's entirely free - at least for the moment - Epic Games Store is bringing The Darkside Detective to mobile as its freebie of the week. Will tells us all about its well-balanced features (check out Iwan's review on it too if you're curious), before Iwan decides who's doomed to receive an untimely visit from three ghosts this season (Hello Kitty herself included).

We then move on from creepy spectres to cult classics with the upcoming Dungeons of Dusk, which honestly features such a rich backstory that it's best to have a look at Iwan's interview with 68K Studios to know all the nitty-gritty.

Now, if you're a fan of interesting narratives like I am, this one's caught my eye - Planet of Lana has now made the leap onto mobile. I do feel like it's perfectly suited for the platform with its lovely visuals and optimised controls; plus, it reminds me a lot of Far: Lone Sails with all the wordless and evocative scenery. So, if that's your kind of vibe, I'd say this is worth giving a go.

And finally, Will caps things off with the adorable Om Nom joining the blocky world of Minecraft as a special add-on, which brings us to the existential question of what exactly this little green blob is and why it's still stealing our hearts (and sugars?) to this day.

What's your take on AI in video games? What's your favourite Final Fantasy game, and would you like to try to handcraft a universe of your own making? We tackle everything from managing football careers to arguing about what a warframe actually is in this week's (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast.

After Iwan blows off some steam about mobile ads and what the heck they're actually doing to our economy, Will shares some insider tips about how you can ward off these unholy abominations with a little Wi-Fi trick (controversial opinions and hardcore gaming secrets only in this podcast).

Then, Iwan updates us on Sega Football Club Champions 2026's upcoming launch, which completely goes over my and Will's heads because sports and paperwork simply do not compute. 

But if you do want to find something you actually can compute, you'll be happy to know that Netflix Puzzled has just launched to offer free daily brainteasers you can play both on mobile and on the Tudum website, with a special Stranger Things-themed coat of paint at the moment to celebrate the show's fifth season. 

We talk a bit about aging actors and how that's what's strange, before we move on to something that our finite minds can actually comprehend - crafting universes with our own hands. Will segues into the Epic Games Store's freebie of the week, Universe For Sale, but while the aesthetics here are definitely on point, I personally had a rough time crafting the universes being peddled. If you're curious, you can have a look at my Universe For Sale review. Your mileage may vary though, so why not give it a go? It's free until December 4th, after all.

While we're on the subject of free stuff, Iwan diverts his enthusiasm to Where Winds Meet. He sheds light on the use of AI here not only in the gameplay but also on how you create your character, as you can apparently use your own voice to generate the sound your character makes - life truly is stranger than fiction.

And speaking of fiction, Will announces Warframe's Android closed beta, then helps me wrap things up with Final Fantasy IX's crossover event within Another Eden. Of course, in true PG fashion, we add more waffles into the waffling on as we tease an upcoming podcast special, but not before revealing that Iwan may or may not be AI himself.

Have you voted for your pick for Game of the Year yet? Who's your fave Hunter from Solo Leveling, and what is the point of it all, according to Iwan? We tackle everything from racing careers to missing vegetables in the (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast.

Iwan's testing a new mic this week from Maono for a review that'll be up on the site soon, so if you think he's sounding pretty darn good (or pretty darn worse), do let us know.

But first, Will proves he's the coolest kid on the block with his intro this week, before we dive right into The Sims Labs: Town Stories that's now in soft launch. Iwan sheds some light on the project and basically spills the tea as the resident Sims expert, and if you're curious, you can catch more of Iwan's hot takes over on our sister site, The Sims News.

The highlight of our episode is, of course, the 12th Pocket Gamer Awards, which is now in its voting phase! This is your chance to let your voice be heard as you can vote for your favourites across a wide variety of categories, including the coveted Mobile Game of the Year. Super Farming Boy, for instance, is right up there with Pokemon TCG Pocket and Umamusume: Pretty Derby, and after a bit of horse-related feminism, Will moves on to kidnapped dads and bad parenting.

That's because Dadish 4 is coming to mobile next month, and this time, it's the titular dad-that's-a-radish that's been abducted (and by the Homeowner's Association, no less). It's up to DJ (or Dadish Jr, of course) to rescue him and save the day.

Unanswered letters to Thomas K Young turn to unanswered letters to poncle as Iwan discusses the Vampire Survivors spin-off Vampire Crawlers (and the powerful psychic damage he's been sending over to poncle), but not before taking us through the new AFK Journey collab with Delicious in Dungeon. This takes us to scary territory for some reason, which is why I segue into the equally cryptic TR-49 - inkle's upcoming narrative mystery that's all about real-life code-breaking documents from WWII. 

It doesn't take long before Will gets down to business with the very business-y Laura Walker from Solo Leveling: Arise, because when you mean serious business, you can't go wrong with a secretary with a whip.

How do you rage against a giant judgmental pillar, and how soon can you get your hands on some Pals on mobile? We tackle everything from bad voice acting to the power of pronunciation in the (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast this week.

After John Marston makes a brief cameo in this episode, Iwan brings us news of Red Dead Redemption's mobile port coming to iOS and Android courtesy of Netflix Games. It is, as he writes, "beginning to look a lot like Red-mas", so while the price tag is pretty hefty, you might be able to justify its purchase on Steam this season - or you can simply subscribe to Netflix to get it for free.

Another big franchise is coming soon to mobile too with Horizon Steel Frontiers, a cross-platform MMORPG I'm super pumped about but likely won't be able to play too much because of my cursed tennis elbows. Still, it promises to bring all the totally awesome machines from the PlayStation hit onto mobile; plus, it looks like we're going to get some cool mounts too as the cherry on top.

Then, Will tells us the odd lore behind ScourgeBringer, which is free on the Epic Games Store if you want to know what it's like to have an evil pillar as your mortal enemy (really). But if you're more into typical manga narratives rather than giant judgmental monoliths, Seven Knights Idle Adventure is doing a collab with popular manhwa The Swordmaster's Son, or you might want to put Mongil: Star Dive on your radar for even more anime-style visuals and feels.

Apart from Netmarble's monster-taming adventure, G-Star 2025 also showcased Palworld Mobile in Korea over the weekend, where Krafton opened alpha test sign-ups for the highly anticipated project. 

And finally, we close out with the upcoming The Witcher collab within Sword of Convallaria - a title that might just elude Will's pronunciation prowess forever. We do offer this idea out into the ether, though: Geralt in a hot tub on wheels as a mount or as a kart racer - now that's a sure hit.

What happened over the weekend in LA, and is this truly the Iwan and Friends show? The (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast focuses on Arknights: Endfield and all the hype surrounding it, with a few bits of immersive candies and pig squeals thrown in for good measure.

After a bit of a kerfuffle about fake tax records, Iwan dives right into the heart of the matter, which is Arknights: Endfield's beta 2.0. Iwan gives us a very detailed look at all the bells and whistles at the event, especially with everything the upcoming RPG has to offer.

There are a lot of interesting tidbits surrounding the mechanics and how they all relate to Arknights, so if you're curious, you can have a look at Iwan's preview, or find out more about what goes on behind the scenes in his interview with producer Light Zhong (it's a really insightful one!).

And because immersion and interactivity are the name of the game these days, we move on to quirkier news as Candy Crush creates music that you can apparently actually taste - we're not even kidding. Will gives us the lowdown on these odd but certainly interesting musical twists, and while we do get into a bit of back-and-forth on whether or not this is actually a good idea, the hype is definitely real for this one, as the lollipops were instantly sold out online.

Speaking of immersion, Clash Royale, on the other hand, is offering you the chance to immortalise yourself forever as the new hog squeal sound effect in the game, so if you're interested, there's still time to make a name for yourself on the official website.

Before we end, we announce the official launch of Sword of Justice, where AI-powered NPCs actually remember how you interact with them - this means you'll likely have a much more immersive experience as you go along, because it seems we're all about immersion today. And finally, Totally Fishing now has an official TestFlight build you can give a go for all your wacky fishing needs.

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).