Hello everyone, and welcome to the week! It’s time once again for our look back at the noteworthy updates of the last seven days. As the temperatures rise and the kids finish out school for the summer, I’m sure we’ll be seeing plenty of seasonal updates rolling in over the next few weeks. We have a couple today, but it’s more the usual odds and ends than anything else. Of course, you can keep an eye out for updates yourself by participating in the TouchArcade forums. This weekly summary is just here to fill you in on the things you might have missed. Let’s go for it!

Subway Surfers, Free

The Subway Surfers are going Hollywood in the latest update to the game. Three new Surfers with three new Boards, plus a spiffy new outfit for Vivienne. You can play the Summer Run and get an exclusive frame for your profile, if that’s something you care about. Some people do! It surprises me, but many things do these days. Like when there’s a guy hiding in the bush with a bottle of seltzer that he sprays at me. I never see him coming.

Tiny Tower: Tap Idle Evolution, Free

The days of ice cream making are over, and now it’s back to the same-old, same-old in Tiny Tower. But as a little parting gift, we have a new set of legendary Bitizens to collect. They all seem to be warriors of some description, so that’s fun. Boosters have also been reworked so that you can use them when you like, though some of them are now a lot shorter in duration. Finally, you can now upgrade your Legendary Lounge. You know, in case you needed another resource sink with no real benefit.

Honkai: Star Rail, Free

I’m trying to be a mature adult and not giggle at the name of this new update. They’ve gone and called it Farewell, Penacony. Pfft. Farewell. That’s too much. Anyway, new characters. The card says Firefly and Jade, which are perfectly good names. A couple of returning characters, some new Light Cones, some new events, a new story, some new game modes, and a bunch of other odds and ends. It seems like a robust update but since I don’t play this game I am ill-equipped to speak in much detail about it.

AFK Journey, Free

This AFK Journey is off on its little journey, though I’ll be honest and say that I actually expected it to update more often than it does. Well, no matter. This latest version has a new S-Level Hypogean Hero, Phraesto – Ayssal Illusionist. Basically Mysterio. Probably less of a loser, but there’s only one way to know for sure. There are also some new Season Artifacts, a new Magic Charm Merchant, some adjustments to combat mechanics and the overall play experience, and some bug fixes to finish things off.

Japanese Rural Life Adventure,

You know, can you really say you’ve been living a proper Japanese rural life adventure so far without pottery? In hindsight, it’s so obvious. We need pottery. Lucky for us, the latest update to this Apple Arcade slow life game adds just that. Pottery! Turn the wheel and you can make some nice pottery of your own, as we in the rural areas of Japan often do. I just finished making some pottery a few minutes ago. No, you can’t see it. I won’t show it until I have perfected the craft, but at least I can now practice in this game. Dang, that was smooth. Well done, Shaun.

Asphalt 8: Airborne, Free

It’s interesting that Asphalt 8 still keeps getting updates after all these years, and often different updates between this standard free-to-play version and the Apple Arcade version. Both got updated this last week, both with different content. Anyway, new cars. The Lamborghini Huracán STO and McLaren Senna GTR are here and ready to drive, if you can get your hands on them. You can also watch ads for some kind of benefit now, and there are some new ways to spend your real money. You know, just play the Apple Arcade one. You probably have Apple Arcade. You don’t need to put up with this.

Tamagotchi Adventure Kingdom,

Did you know? Tamagotchi belongs to Bandai, and Bandai and Namco are the same company, and Pac-Man belongs to Namco. And so, here comes Pac-Man! A new mini-game allows you to play some Pac-Man mazes in a new limited-time event where you can earn some exclusive rewards. Exclusive to everyone who plays this event. That’s at least four people, possibly more. There are all sorts of other things that have been added with this mini-game, but some other small changes and adjustments have been made to other aspects. Bug fixes, too. It’s not all Pac-Man and ghosts. Just… mostly.

Solitaire Stories,

Wow, this game just keeps the events coming at a regular clip, doesn’t it? This update brings a new story of summer love in the form of Soulmatez, a tale that follows an operator at a matchmaking agency. Along with that, there are three events running. Jupiter relates to the best planet ever outside of Earth, All of Us is a Pride Month event, and Tiki Luau brings a little bit of Hawaiian charm to the game. Yes, that all sounds quite nice. Whatever keeps the cards coming, right?

Adventure To Fate Lost Island, $4.99

We’re almost done for this week, which means I should give out the coveted UMMSotW award before we run out of time. This is the winner this time, and it’s not hard to see why. A new Witch class has been added to the game, and they bring a lot of neat twists to the game. The most interesting is that if your Witch dies five times, they will be permanently deleted. But each death also makes them more powerful, so… push your luck as far as you dare. It’s the first of the new Mystical Classes, which make the game more like a roguelike. There are also two new races, the Leprechaun (Shaun, Shaun) and the Zombie, plus three new pets. Fruit Bat! A bunch of new skills, some UI adjustments, more achievements and leaderboards, and more round this fantastic update out. Play this game!

Toon Blast, Free

We’ll finish things out with our obligatory free-to-play matching puzzle game update for the week, this time going with Toon Blast because… I mean, it’s there. It’s fine. Fifty new levels in an episode called No Rush, and that’s all the update notes are giving us to go on. Well, I’m not going to put in much more effort than the person who wrote the notes, so let’s say that’s it right there.

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