This Week In Mobile: Mountains, Planeswalkers, And Cute Bears

This week’s top new mobile games are guaranteed to keep you busy. Some, like a new Magic: The Gathering mobile game, require a hefty time investment, but most items on this list are lighthearted and quick games that all keep a solid balance between simplicity and difficulty.

Magic Duels
Developer: Wizards of the Coast
Platform(s): iOS
Price: Free with in-app purchases 

For those Magic: The Gathering fans out there, Magic Duels is an official free-to-play mobile rendition of the successful card game. In it, players are able to compete against A.I., battle friends and strangers online, build custom decks, and collect new cards. While the game does feature in-app purchases, all cards can still be found for free in the game at some point. The app is also set to receive free periodic content updates, putting an end to the yearly releases of the past.

Alphabear
Developer: Spry Fox LLC
Platform(s): iOS, Android
Price: Free with in-app purchases

Alphabear combines a rewarding puzzle game with adorable costumed bear characters to form what just might become your new favorite time killer. The word puzzle game is packed with different stages and scenarios, but the core game revolves around making words with single-letter tiles spread across a board. When you use letters close to a bear, the bear grows in size and increases your point gain for that round. Higher scores help you unlock new characters, better bonuses, and more difficult levels as well. Oh, and whenever you unlock a new bear, the game uses words from the previous puzzle to generate a cute little mad-lib. Watch your language in the game, or some of those mad-libs can get weird fast.

Nono Islands
Developer: Illusion Labs
Platform(s): iOS, Android (Coming Soon)
Price: Free with in-app purchases

In this tile-based adventure game, players take control of a dashing adventurer as he jumps, climbs, and dodges through a dangerous island environment in search of treasure. Nono Islands is a deceptively simple-looking game that offers a decent level of challenge to those willing to brave the island. Avoiding danger is easier said than done when skulls jump in your path and platforms raise and lower from toxic waters, but isn’t the treasure worth it in the end?

Down The Mountain
Developer: Umbrella
Platform(s): iOS
Price: Free with in-app purchases

Anyone who poured hours of gameplay into Crossy Road will feel right at home atop the treacherous bluffs of Down The Mountain. Players start at the top of a slowly deconstructing mountain and must tap left or right to find the safest path down the steep mountainside. Like with any hike, the mountainside is riddled with obstacles to be avoided such as dynamite, protruding spikes, and vicious animals. As if the constant high-score battles weren’t enough to get players hooked, Down The Mountain also features unlockable characters and missions to be completed throughout the game.