Welcome to the first version of This Week’s Games. Each week we will be previewing and looking at the upcoming games for that week. We will first preview the games we have had hands on experience with, and also look over the games that we know are coming but are yet to try. The games are listed in alphabetical order, not by preference. We have a huge list of games coming out over the next few days so be excited! We expect the games to come out on the listed dates, but their release date could change.

Drop the Chicken 2 (by AppInTheBox) June 8

Our hero ‘Chuck The Chicken’ is back and he has been captured by the circus’s evil monkey ring master and he must perform his way through each of the levels to win his girlfriend back and escape once again.

Drop The Chicken 2 – Back to the Circus is the sequel to the original Chuck The Chicken by AppInTheBox. The gameplay is similar to that found in Cut The Rope but has many different twists to make it feel unique in its own right. There are 100 levels to complete and there are also many easter eggs to find and bonus levels to try. The animations are amusing, as are the sound effects too. If you played the original, or liked Cut the Rope, Drop The Chicken 2 is well worth picking up.

Freak Circus Racing (by JUMBON LTD.) June 4

Freak Circus Racing is a crazy fun physics based racing game with wacky 2D graphics and solid gameplay. Climb the steepest hills, tune your cars and face off with the mad Freaks. Then challenge your friends and humiliate them!

Freak Circus Racing is a crazy and wacky side scrolling racer. You have been kicked out of the circus and want to show the freaks who’s the best racer in town. Over 40 levels you and Hugo will beat many obstacles whilst adapting your car along the way. The controls are simple: tap accelerate to move forward, and brake to move back. The same two controls are also used to stabilize your vehicle when you go over a jump.

The levels throw tough challenges from the get go, meaning it will take a while to complete all 40 of them completely. You can also customize your vehicle by changing your power, spin, grip, stability and also changing the design  of the car through the garage shop. The game does have IAP though, as you can only play levels with gas in your tank, meaning you have to wait 30 minutes for it to full up, letting you have ten attempts at completing levels every half an hour. Alternatively you can watch an advertisement to fill the tank up.

Move The Walls (by Beavertap Games) June 4

Move the Walls is an endless reaction game where you swipe left or right to clear the path for an object. The game speed gets faster as your score increases. You can also collect coins to unlock various themes. They’re purely cosmetic, but maybe you’ll find one you really like! Just make sure to MOVE THE WALLS.

There’s not a huge amount to explain about Move The Walls. Simply all you have to do is swipe the walls out of the way and get as far as you can. As you get further the game gets more difficult with both the wall movement and the speed changes. It’s an endless runner so the further you get, the bigger your score and the more you can brag. There are also various different themes you can unlock by collecting coins throughout the game.

Robbery Bob 2: Double Trouble (by Chillingo) June 4

 The true king of thieves is back in business! Luckless burglar Bob is up to his old tricks again in Robbery Bob 2: Double Trouble. Sneak around security guards, past patrolling pensioners and evade cunning traps as you try to get your sticky mitts on as much loot as possible.

Published by Chillingo and from the same studio that brought us Robbery Bob and the incredibly popular Top Gear Stunt School comes Robbery Bob 2: Double Trouble. The game is very easy to play, simply walk around using your on screen joystick trying to burgle as much items as possible, on the way you must avoid getting caught by the guards and as weird as it sounds, pensioners. The game has some amazing animations, brilliant environments and some top class sound effects which we have come to expect from anything published by Chillingo.

The Ember Conflict (by Substantial Games) June 4

Ages after the Ember Isles were almost destroyed by a disaster of unknown origin, opposing factions are fighting for control over a resource of multiple uses: the glowing Ember.

We tried out The Ember Conflict and found it to be incredibly fun. You start off with basic troops and over levels gain better and bigger armies to compete against other players. To play you drag your soldiers to the points on the map you want them to attack. There are many different types of soldiers including archers, swordsman and horseman, so how you play them requires elements of preparation and strategy. The game has a huge amount of characters and environments meaning you can play for many hours without feeling like nothing has changed or like everything is repeating itself. If thats not enough you can even have a pet companion.

The Sims 3 Ambitions (by Electronic Arts) June 4

Now your Sims can turn passions into professions…Build dream homes or businesses…Even have BABIES! Get everything you love about The Sims and more from this all-new member of The Sims family of games for iPhone & iPod touch.

This one hit us out of the blue, and surprised us as much as it may have surprised you. We weren’t expecting another Sims game anytime soon.

This Sims is a paid version so it is unlikely we will se any iAPs or free to play elements in it. The selling point of this Sims is the ability to have careers and live your ambitions, much like the original console version of the Sims 3 had, and incase you were worried, yes you can still build a house, and also build stadiums and businesses! The biggest edition though is the ability to have babies and start a family. This is the most ambitious (mind the pun) Sims for iOS yet.

You Must Build A Boat (by EightyEight Games)  June 4

So you start with a really small boat and a couple of monsters, and it’s not really that impressive, so you start exploring dungeons to get more crew. That means you’ll be matching tiles, fighting monsters, finding treasure, avoiding traps and all that sort of stuff. As you go on you’ll find people to join you on your ship and offer their services, capture monsters that will fight by your side, discover cool artefacts and all that good stuff.

Luca Redwood has been hard at work on his next game, You Must Build A Boat a game which originally started as an update to 10000000 but turned into a sequal. Your boat starts off as a simple paddle boat, and over levels and quests you will attempt to make it bigger and better. Whilst expanding your boat you will also find your crew as you run through the dungeons and complete quests, these crew will help you out later on by letting you upgrade your weapons and other powers.

The actual gameplay is match three with the twist that every time you match, your character moves forward and attacks making it one of the most unique match three genre games going. You have to be quick though as the longer you take, the further back you get pushed. Luca’s last game 10000000 was well made, and its sequel is no different and is defiantly worth checking out. This is one of the best games I have played in a while.  The game will also come out on Android and PC.

Also coming this week:

• 42 Monsters (by Guava7) June 4
• 4×4 Jam (by Invictus) June 4
• Cute Space Bosses (By Add Inspiration) June 4
• Dashy Panda (Appsolute Games) June 4
• Dead Among Us (by Rolocule Games) June 4
• Dribble Madness (by Frosty Popcorns) June 4
• Dude Perfect 2 (by Miniclip.com) June 4
• Jumping Fish (by Ketchapp) June 4
• Recon In Force (by RiemenRade Studios) June 4
• Stunt Wheels (by Kept) June 4
• Tika Taka Soccer (by Panic Barn) June 4

Indie development studio from Beijing, Substantial Games, have officially released alpha gameplay footage of their upcoming iPad game, The Ember Conflict, which is set to land on the App Store sometime in Fall of 2014. From what looks to be heavily inspired by Autumn Dynasty but also a mix between Warhammer and Total War, The Ember Conflict is real-time-strategy game that features the ability to play online against other players in a 3D environment. While details are very scare at the moment, Substantial Games received an investment of more than $300,000 from Empower Investments, who are located out of Shanghai. With that in mind, any company who is willing to invest that kind of money into a development studio definitely shows what serious potential The Ember Conflict has once it’s launched on the App Store. At the moment we are told that the game will only be available for the iPad, so it’s hard to say if we’ll ever see an iPhone version or not. Going off the alpha gameplay video below, The Ember Conflict appears to be coming along well despite any bugs that there may be. For those that want to get an early release copy that may come with a few bugs or glitches here and there, you can signup for the newsletter that will notify you when it becomes available.

More development updates are planned for the future as well, so we’ll be sure to keep you updated as those are released.