The Friday Digest - What we loved this week and what we're looking forward to next week in mobile gaming

Hi there, and welcome to a new weekly feature here at 148Apps. It's called the Friday Digest, and it's going to keep you up to date will all the important comings and goings in the world of mobile gaming. We're not just looking to the past here, we're looking to the future as well.

We've rounded up the choicest morsels of mobile gaming news from the last seven days from our sister-site Pocket Gamer, picked the best new releases, and chosen the finest sampling of AppSpy's Youtube channel, then put it in one place. This place. The place you're looking at right now. If that wasn't enough, we've picked what we think are the best pieces of content we've posted on 148Apps this week, as well as selecting some of the awesome games we're excited about playing next week.

And we'll be doing the same thing next week, so make sure to keep coming back. Your mobile gaming knowledge is definitely going to be the envy of all of your friends if you do.

The big news

Probably the biggest news this week is all about Game of Thrones. And Reigns. Those are two of our favorite things, so you can probably tell we're pretty excited for Reigns: Game of Thrones. From what we've seen so far it looks like the perfect mash-up, with characters from the massive TV show fitting neatly into the Tinder-for-rulers shape of the last two Reigns games.

It's set to come out in October this year, and if you click this link you'll be able to head on over to the App Store and get your pre-order in before you forget that it exists and run out of money.

In even more ridiculous news, Monument Valley is going to be become a movie. Quite how that's going to work, we have no idea. But to be honest, two hours sitting and watching a silent character work their way through a strange landscape while some awesome ambient music plays sounds pretty sweet to us.

Then there's the news surrounding The Witcher. CD Projekt Red, the dev behind Geralt's grim adventures, as well as the upcoming Cyberpunk 2077, has launched a new studio that's going to focus on mobile games. We don't know anymore than that at the moment, but it's certainly an interesting development. Hey, that's sort of a pun!

On top of all of that, Madfinger has announced its new game. It's called Shadowgun Wargames, it's a 5v5 arena shooter, and you can check out the trailer for it below. It also won the best mobile game award at Gamescom in Germany this week, so it must be pretty good.

New releases

Rome: Total War leads the pack this week. Sure, it's not a new game, but it now works on your iPhone. Considering how massive it is, that's no small achievement. It's probably the best true strategy game on the App Store right now, and the fact you can fit it in your pocket is pretty darn sweet.

Powerless is also worthy of your attention. It's a narrative driven experience that's all about what we'd do in a world without power. Throw in a diverse cast of characters and plenty of choices you need to make, and we reckon you're on to a winner.

Then there's Super Spell Heroes, a new midcore battler from Flare Games. It's definitely aiming for the Clash Royale market, but it's got some interesting ideas of its own. Worth checking out if you don't want to spend any money on your games this week.

Game of the week

As usual, we're running our game of the week competition, where you, our readers, get to choose what you think should be crowned the best game of the last seven days. Voting runs until late on Monday, and if you want to get involved, click here to make your choice.

148 best bits

Elsewhere on 148Apps, we reviewed the really rather wonderful Evergarden, saying "There’s something here for you if you want to spend a few hours uncovering a story and completing bespoke puzzles, and tons more if you want to spend time learning the best strategies for combining plants and netting high scores." Click here to read the full review.

In feature world, we wrote a couple of interesting pieces for your perusal. First, there's the best mobile games to play when you're on a plane. Then we had a ponder about why love is so important in adventure games.

To round things off in a more helpful manner, make sure you check out our guides to Legend of Solgard from King. The first one breaks down how to play the game, and the second one explains the modes you're going to be playing in more detail.

Video, video, video

AppSpy is the video arm of 148Apps, and every week it creates the finest videos about mobile gaming. Click here to subscribe and make sure you never miss a thing. This week, as you might be able to imagine, was no different. First we got a rundown of the five best battle royale games for mobile.

After that, James Gilmour played Barbearian, and he liked what he saw.

Then to finish things off, AppSpy rated the best fighting games you can get from the App Store.

Next week's games

First there's Valleys Between, a calming, atmospheric puzzle game that we reckon is going to be on a lot of people's wish lists.

Also coming out next week is Optica. It's another puzzler, but it's all about manipulating space and light. It sounds pretty special, and you can click here if you fancy getting your pre-order in.

Then there's Donut County, which is a game about being a hole. It's charmingly indie in all the best ways, and what's not to love about being a hole? Click here and you'll be able to order it ready for release.

Last but not least there's Golfing Around from Colin Lane. It's another silly sports game that won't just make you laugh, it'll make you fall in love with a pastime you thought was rubbish. Wanna pre-order it? Click right here then.