Silver Palace Is a Compelling Palate Cleanser for Stale Gacha Game Tropes

Gabriel Zamora — Sat, 29 Aug 2026 14:00:00 +0000

Developer Silver Studio trades tired gacha cliches for quality storytelling, high-stakes detective work, and combo-centric combat. Here are my thoughts, based on a recent closed beta test.

Gacha games far too often fall into the same narrative and gameplay tropes. You choose a gender, input a name, and wake up with amnesia. No matter how good the story, the titles almost universally suffer from glacially slow starts. Silver Palace (coming to Android, iOS, PC, and PS5) is …

Do You Play? Rate Your Gaming Systems and Gear to Win More Than the Final Boss Battle

PCMag Canada — Sat, 29 Aug 2026 00:09:15 +0000

We want to hear your thoughts on the consoles, handhelds, controllers, and more that you use for serious video game time. One lucky survey taker will win $250 to spend at Amazon.

Take the PCMag Gaming Systems and Gear Survey Today

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The Best Android Games for 2026: Your Next Mobile Gaming Addiction Starts Here

Jordan Minor — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 15:35:21 +0000
Whether you want epic adventures or five-minute time killers, these 30 standout titles for your Android phone or tablet deliver serious fun.

Pokémon Go Changed the World. These Are the 10 Moments I’ll Never Forget

Jordan Minor — Tue, 14 Jul 2026 20:24:01 +0000
From its explosive 2016 debut to today's massive live events, these are the experiences that have made Pokémon Go unlike any other game I've ever played.
Pokémon was already a worldwide phenomenon worshipped by several generations by the time Niantic's Pokémon Go hit our iOS and Android phones in July 2016. And yet, by combining Pikachu and friends with groundbreaking augmented reality gameplay, Pokémon Go somehow took the …

The Best Apple Arcade Games for 2026

Jordan Minor — Wed, 08 Jul 2026 14:43:40 +0000
Apple Arcade bundles fun, premium mobile games in a low-cost, $6.99-per-month subscription. Check out these top titles that will make you ditch free-to-play cash grabs.

Xbox Mobile Store Teaser Site Is Removed, But CEO Says It's 'Not Dead'

James Peckham — Thu, 23 Apr 2026 19:41:03 +0000
Intended as a place to download Microsoft's mobile games, the store has been in development for almost two years, but its website now returns a 404 error page.
UPDATE: Xbox chief Asha Sharma responds on X that a mobile store could still happen, though the store's website is still offline.
"Three weeks ago, we filed an amicus because mobile competition still matters and we believe the future of play should be more open," she tweeted. …

You Have 2 Months Left to Play Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile

James Peckham — Wed, 18 Feb 2026 12:11:59 +0000
Activision confirmed it will shut down servers on April 17, though new players can no longer download the game.
UPDATE 2/18/26: Call of Duty: Warzone on mobile is set to close in two months, according to publisher Activision. The last day you'll be able to play the game on Android or iOS will be April 17, 2026. The move comes almost a year after publisher …

Roblox's New Age-Verification System Is Reportedly Off to a Chaotic Start

Jibin Joseph — Wed, 14 Jan 2026 14:56:01 +0000
The program's known problems include parents verifying their kids as adults, verified accounts being sold on eBay, and kids getting mislabeled as adults.
Roblox is running into significant challenges with its new age-verification system.
As Wired reports, the system has trouble estimating a user’s age correctly and is causing some of them to lose contact with their friends after verification. More importantly, it is mislabeling …

Fortnite Returns to Android on Google Play Store, Apple Loses Appeal Against Epic

James Peckham — Fri, 12 Dec 2025 14:58:03 +0000
It's now much easier to install Fortnite on your Android phone. Epic CEO Tim Sweeney also celebrated the Apple ruling, saying it's confirmation that the 'Apple Tax is dead in the USA.'
After five years away, Fortnite is once again available for download on your Android phone or tablet directly from the Google Play Store. The game has returned in the US after the title's developers, Epic Games, reached a settlement in a long-running legal battle …

Netflix's New Daily Puzzles Are Finally Here to Tempt You Away From Wordle

PCMag Canada — Thu, 27 Nov 2025 12:49:23 +0000
There are eight new daily puzzles including a sudoku and four inventive word games.
Netflix has spent 2025 rethinking its gaming strategy, focusing on party titles to play on your TV and now daily puzzle games for your smartphone. Netflix wants you to add these games into your daily rotation alongside titles like Wordle.
Netflix Puzzled is now available on …

22 Games Are Leaving Netflix in July, Including Hades, Every Monument Valley

James Peckham — Thu, 26 Jun 2025 15:36:28 +0000
If you were planning to play one of these titles on your phone, you'll want to act quickly. Many of these will be removed on July 14. Hades leaves in less than a week on July 1.
Some of the best mobile games on Netflix are being removed from the streaming service, with 22 titles set to leave by the middle of next month.
Spotted by What’s On Netflix, …

9 Retro Ports of Classic Sega Titles Now Free on Mobile, If You Act Fast

James Peckham — Wed, 18 Jun 2025 15:28:21 +0000
Sonic, Crazy Taxi, Streets of Rage, and more are now available on iPhone and Android for free. They previously cost around $2 each, plus a little extra to remove ads.
Your smartphone or tablet can be one of the easiest ways to play classic games, and Sega has historically been good at putting many of its retro titles on both Android and iPhone. However, Sega is set to pull support for its mobile ports, but not before offering them as …

Why Is the Xbox Mobile Store Delayed? Microsoft Says It's Apple Fault

PCMag Canada — Wed, 21 May 2025 17:07:37 +0000
A recent court ruling means Microsoft is in the clear to launch an Xbox games store on iOS, but a new filing suggests it's hesitant to do that in case Apple wins on appeal.
Microsoft is siding with Epic Games in the legal battle against Apple's App Store "tax," arguing in a new legal brief that Apple has "stymied" Microsoft's planned launch of an Xbox game store.
A year ago, Xbox President Sarah Bond announced an Xbox mobile store …

Fortnite Is Back on iPhone With New Rewards System

James Peckham — Wed, 21 May 2025 13:25:34 +0000
Apple has allowed Fortnite back onto the iPhone for the first time in over four years. You can now get cashback on purchases if you don't use Apple's payment method.
Apple has officially reinstated Fortnite on the US App Store, allowing you to download it to your iPhone or iPad for the first time in over four years. Epic Games also revived the game in markets like Europe after it had …

Fortnite's Return to iPhone Blocked by Apple, Game Is Down Worldwide

James Peckham — Fri, 16 May 2025 10:45:39 +0000
Apple has yet to confirm why the game has been blocked. Epic Games says the game will remain offline across the globe until Apple approves the most recent updates.
Apple has blocked Fortnite's return to iPhone in the US, and the move means the game is also offline in regions where it was available, such as the European Union.
Epic Games submitted Fortnite for iPhone and iPad to the App Store a week ago, but Epic now says, "Apple has …

Netflix Scraps Interactive Mobile Game Series Based on Its Shows

Will Mccurdy — Sat, 05 Apr 2025 14:04:58 +0000
The Netflix Stories app and its content will live on but the streaming giant is turning its focus to other areas of the gaming world.
Netflix has scrapped a series of interactive fiction games based on its original shows.
As PocketGamer reports, Netflix Stories includes narrative-focused games that take you inside shows like Virgin River, Love Is Blind, Emily in Paris, Outer Banks, and Perfect Match. …

Apple Arcade

Jordan Minor — Tue, 04 Feb 2025 19:25:08 +0000
Premium Apple playtime
The mobile gaming market is overrun by low-quality, exploitative, free-to-play titles. However, gamers deserve to play better titles on their phones and tablets. Apple Arcade delivers on the category's potential by offering a curated catalog of premium iOS games that include megapopular titles and niche …

Wuthering Waves

Gabriel Zamora — Mon, 13 Jan 2025 22:12:24 +0000
A brilliant action-focused RPG with some gacha pitfalls
Genshin Impact changed the free-to-play gaming landscape by delivering a robust open world adventure on par with most AAA releases. Developer Kuro Games echoes many of these elements in Wuthering Waves (available on mobile, PC, and PS5), but adds its own …

Zenless Zone Zero

Gabriel Zamora — Sat, 23 Nov 2024 15:00:00 +0000
Excellent action, dull dungeon crawling
Developer Hoyoverse is a prominent name in the gaming sphere thanks to the success of excellent action-RPGs like Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail. With Zenless Zone Zero (aka ZZZ ), Hoyoverse blends urban,

Pokemon TCG Pocket

Jordan Minor — Fri, 01 Nov 2024 19:44:52 +0000
Catch ‘em all, in card form
Pokemon has always been bigger than video games. Since the mid-1990s, Pikachu and friends have dominated everything from anime to McDonald's Happy Meal toys. Now, Pokemon TCG Pocket modernizes another Pokemon pillar. This free Android and iOS game …

Adobe Lightroom Mobile (for iPhone)

Michael Muchmore — Mon, 18 Dec 2023 16:19:13 +0000
Most of Lightroom, on Your iPhone!
Lightroom, Adobe's professional photo-workflow software, is one of the more intensive desktop applications around, so when the company brought a version to the comparatively horsepower-challenged iPad last April, it obviously couldn't include all its most-powerful features. You might expect to get even less …

ManyMe

Neil J. Rubenking — Fri, 19 May 2023 18:53:06 +0000
Never reveal your true email address, for free
You keep your passwords secret, of course, but there's no way to keep your email address secret. Or is there? With ManyMe, you never give out your actual email address. Instead, you use a FlyBy handle, a temporary email address that's different for each …

Mighty Doom

Jordan Minor — Mon, 08 May 2023 15:15:13 +0000
Rip and tear on mobile
A mobile Doom game isn’t such a farfetched idea. After all, Bethesda turned other hit franchises, such as Elder Scrolls and Fallout, into well-received Android and iPhone spinoffs. However, while Mighty Doom occasionally reminds us of what makes

Marvel Snap

Jordan Minor — Wed, 15 Feb 2023 21:07:45 +0000
Strategic and addictive comic book card battles
In the vast multiverse, who would imagine that a free-to-play mobile game based on Marvel Comics would be one of the best games of the year? The free Marvel Snap is an incredible card game that features approachable yet deeply strategic mechanics we would praise …

Diablo Immortal (for iOS)

Jordan Minor — Wed, 01 Jun 2022 12:00:00 +0000
Dance with the devil on the go
When Blizzard first announced Diablo Immortal, the fan reaction was...mixed. Now that we have both a Diablo II remaster and the promise of a full-fledged Diablo IV, maybe the community can better appreciate this mobile game spin-off of the beloved, satanic action-RPG. Unsurprisingly, Blizzard’s …

Apex Legends Mobile (for iOS)

Jordan Minor — Mon, 16 May 2022 16:00:00 +0000
Battle royale on the go
While the world waits for Titanfall 3, Respawn’s Apex Legends continues to thrive as arguably the best battle royale game. These massive shooters require equally massive audiences, so the jump to mobile gaming seemed inevitable. After getting some hands-on time with the upcoming Apex Legends Mobile, we …

Rocket League Sideswipe (for iOS)

Jordan Minor — Tue, 21 Dec 2021 21:58:40 +0000
A rocket in your pocket
Rocket League answered a simple, bizarre question: What if go-karts played soccer? This led to one of the greatest sports games of the modern era, one that's accessible enough to be a wacky arcade hit while featuring enough depth for competitive esports action. Rocket League …

Pikmin Bloom (for iOS)

Jordan Minor — Thu, 04 Nov 2021 13:42:17 +0000
Walk with Pikmin-powered purpose
With its perfect storm of cutting-edge augmented reality tech and nostalgic monster-catching mechanics, Pokemon Go absolutely consumed the world. Now, Nintendo and Niantic are back with the inevitable follow-up, Pikmin Bloom. This is another AR spin on an adorable gaming franchise. Comparing the game to its unprecedented

League of Legends: Wild Rift (for iOS)

Jordan Minor — Thu, 01 Apr 2021 15:01:55 +0000
A magnificent mobile MOBA
League of Legends is so successful that it single-handedly sustained its developer, Riot Games, for more than a decade. Now, the massively popular, free-to-play MOBA comes to mobile devices as League of Legends: Wild Rift. Translating an esports-caliber, competitive PC game to phones requires appreciated tweaks, but also some that …

DC Universe Infinite

Jordan Minor — Tue, 26 Jan 2021 17:21:35 +0000
All-you-can-read DC Comics
Comic fans know that, like Doctor Manhattan’s clockwork, the DC universe periodically enters a crisis and emerge as a wholly new heroic version of itself. The same just happened to the DC Universe app. Previously a video streaming service, DC Universe lost its movies and TV shows to WarnerMedia’s HBO …

PCMag Canada mobile-games

Silver Palace Is a Compelling Palate Cleanser for Stale Gacha Game Tropes

Do You Play? Rate Your Gaming Systems and Gear to Win More Than the Final Boss Battle

Take the PCMag Gaming Systems and Gear Survey Today

The Best Android Games for 2026: Your Next Mobile Gaming Addiction Starts Here

Pokémon Go Changed the World. These Are the 10 Moments I’ll Never Forget

The Best Apple Arcade Games for 2026

Xbox Mobile Store Teaser Site Is Removed, But CEO Says It's 'Not Dead'

You Have 2 Months Left to Play Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile

Roblox's New Age-Verification System Is Reportedly Off to a Chaotic Start

Fortnite Returns to Android on Google Play Store, Apple Loses Appeal Against Epic

Netflix's New Daily Puzzles Are Finally Here to Tempt You Away From Wordle

22 Games Are Leaving Netflix in July, Including Hades, Every Monument Valley

9 Retro Ports of Classic Sega Titles Now Free on Mobile, If You Act Fast

Why Is the Xbox Mobile Store Delayed? Microsoft Says It's Apple Fault

Fortnite Is Back on iPhone With New Rewards System

Fortnite's Return to iPhone Blocked by Apple, Game Is Down Worldwide

Netflix Scraps Interactive Mobile Game Series Based on Its Shows

Apple Arcade

Wuthering Waves

Zenless Zone Zero

Pokemon TCG Pocket

Adobe Lightroom Mobile (for iPhone)

ManyMe

Mighty Doom

Marvel Snap

Diablo Immortal (for iOS)

Apex Legends Mobile (for iOS)

Rocket League Sideswipe (for iOS)

Pikmin Bloom (for iOS)

League of Legends: Wild Rift (for iOS)

DC Universe Infinite