Play Fortnite, PUBG Mobile and 3 more great new mobile games this week

In the immortal words of Ron Burgundy, “Well, that escalated quickly.” Every week, we keep an eye on the best new mobile games to drop on iOS and Android, but every now and then, a week comes along and just …

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In the immortal words of Ron Burgundy, “Well, that escalated quickly.” Every week, we keep an eye on the best new mobile games to drop on iOS and Android, but every now and then, a week comes along and just smacks us upside the head with its awesomeness.

This was one of those weeks, as the app stores (mostly just the iOS App Store, alas) got a huge dose of battle royale. The two biggest titles in that genre landed within days of each other and have rocketed to the top of the charts in just a few days — and yes, even though Fortnite is invite-only at the moment, we’re counting it as a new release because it’s really not that hard to get into it.

We didn’t want to just stop at two games, though, so we’re going five deep with titles you might want to try, but we’ll give you only one guess at the first two games on this week’s list. Just saying.

Fortnite

Not too many games could be the most downloaded free game for iOS devices while still in a state somewhere between open and closed beta, but such is the power of Fortnite. Not just a battle royale game, it’s having a bit of a cultural moment right now, as athletes, celebs and darn near everyone is playing it. The mobile version plays really well, so get your friends to squad up or have a go of it on your own. Android players, your time will come eventually, just not yet.

  • App Store (Free – invite code needed to play)

PUBG Mobile

Not to be outdone, the title that many credit with giving rise to the battle royale craze in the first place has also made its way to mobile to take advantage of a market that is clearly hungering for it. Perhaps not quite the same experience as on other platforms, PUBG Mobile still has a ton of fans — and has eclipsed Fortnite on the App Store free chart at the time of this article — so picking one over the other is largely a matter of personal preference. Or you can just play them both.

Shadowgun Legends

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azzuJ5X6Dwg

We told you there was more cool stuff coming out that wasn’t battle royale! You’ll still need your shooter skills for this one, the latest in the successful Shadowgun franchise from MADFINGER Games. The difference in this sci-fi romp is that it features a persistent world with a ton of RPG elements, and a Fame system that ensures other characters react differently to you based on your actions. Fame — you want to live forever, right? Light up the sky like a flame? Ahem.

Pacifc Rim: Breach Wars

Yeah, we know. Match-3, puzzle-based RPG, you’ve been there, done that. We acknowledge that but offer the idea that you’ve probably never done it with the amazing Jaegers of Pacific Rim at your disposal. Just in time for the excellent-looking sequel movie, Breach Wars features dozens of Jaegers and even more Kaiju for you to fight, and Kung Fu Factory is at the helm, so it’s worth a look.

Crazy Defense Heroes

Animoca is known more for a specific visual aesthetic than any unifying genre or gameplay features between its games, but Crazy Defense Heroes looks like it’s serving up a pretty interesting mix of genres you know — tower defense, RPG and CCG — in a way that other mobile games might not have done before. If you’ve still got room on your phone or tablet after all the other epicness that has recently arrived, this looks like a potential sleeper.

Nick Tylwalk enjoys writing about video games, comic books, pro wrestling and other things where people are often punching each other, regaardless of what that says about him. He prefers MMOs, RPGs, strategy and sports games but can be talked into playing just about anything.