Mike Fahey

Wait, That’s Not a Zynga Game at the Top of the Facebook Charts

Since I started covering the social gaming scene for Kotaku I’ve been regularly checking the numbers over at AppStats to see which Zynga games were topping the charts on any given day. You can imagine my surprise when the name on top of today’s daily active users chart had King.com next to it. Way to…

The Enchanted Glen Update Goes Live: FarmVille is Magic

Today Zynga transforms FarmVille into a magical wonderland of joy and laughter and joyness with the Enchanted Glen update, now live for players level 15 and up that didn’t manage to secure early access. Can I farm ponies now? According to the Zynga blog post, FarmVille’s ninth expansion tells the story of the Sun Fairy…

Sweet Pixel Graphics Can’t Save This Game from Collectible Card Banality

It takes something special to get me invested in one of the wave of mobile collectible card games seeking to ride on the overwhelming success of Rage of Bahamut—it took Transformers to get me to appreciate the appeal of the genre. With its eye-catching pixelated style, DeNA’s D.O.T. Defenders of Texel threatened to be the…

Bake Shop Drop is Not a Game to Play If You’re Counting Calories

A drop-based matching game recently launched on Facebook from Broken Bulb Game Studios, Bake Shop Drop is an addictive little game that has me quite conflicted—do I play another round, or run to the store for cupcakes? The pieces are frosted cake slices, sprinkled doughnuts, chocolate chip cookies and red velvet cupcakes. The power-ups are…

This Week’s iPhone Charts: The Minecraft Connection

Welcome to the all-new, all-improved, all much simpler formatted as to not kill myself every morning weekly app rankings. The ponderous and sloppy image-heavy format has been exchanged for a tasteful table, which makes it much easier to notice things like Minecraft proper and a 2D Minecraft “homage” holding both number two spots in the…

Spam: The Snacktaku Review

Lovely Spam. Wonderful Spam. Monty Python’s classic sketch cast Hormel’s combination of pork shoulder and ham meat as an inescapable food sensation. While nerd culture has made such a joke of Spam that it’s become synonymous with a flood of unwanted information, in many parts of the world the skit is more documentary than parody.…

Waking the Cat is Normally a Bad Idea. This is the Exception.

If three decades of cat ownership have taught me anything, it’s that a cat at rest should be let stay at rest as long as feline-ly possible. Cats are at their cutest when unconscious. Wake them and they begin scratching things, poking their nose into the kitchen, and filling the designated boxes (and anything remotely…

A Fond Farewell to the Gaming App of the Day

It’s been two years since we started posting the Gaming App of the Day here at Kotaku, shining the spotlight on a single Apple, Android or Windows Phone game that stood out in their respective crowded marketplaces. It was a good system, but it’s one that doesn’t work anymore, so it’s going away. Late last…

I Guess Dennis Rodman is a Reason to Download a Card-Based Basketball Game

The last time I saw basketball bad boy Dennis Rodman in a way that registered with me at all was on stage at a Counting Crows / Live concert in the early 2000s. Now he’s helped Hothead Games make Big Win Basketball. I’m still only mildly impressed. I’ve been told the game was coordinated and…

King’s Bounty: Legions Makes a Strategic Move to Android

Russian developer Nival has done an amazing job bringing an updated free-to-play take on New World Computing’s 1990 classic PC turn-based strategy game King’s Bounty to Facebook and the iPad. Now they complete the cross-platform circle with King’s Bounty: Legions for Android, harnessing the power of Tegra 3 to make for the best mobile version…

There I Was, Beating Down the Zombie Hordes Wearing Nothing But Cutoffs and a Chest Bandage

As far as first impressions go, Progrestar’s Facebook zombie survival game The Last One isn’t doing itself any favors. I show up in the game world wholly unprepared for the task ahead of me—torn pants, a chest wrap and a metal pipe against legions of flesh-hungry walking dead. One would assume that shoes would be…

Time Surfer is a Psychedelic Sci-Fi Tear Through Tiny Wings Territory

In the popular iOS game Tiny Wings, players use a single finger to control the flight of an adorable baby bird as it slides down hills and soars through the serene sky, chased by peaceful dreams. Time Surfer is the same thing, except instead of peaceful dreams it’s the end of the universe, the sky…

Gamevil’s eagerly-anticipated role-playing game Zenonia 5: Wheel of Destiny is now available in iTunes for free

You Want a Steam Box? Cut the Rope‘s Got a Steam Box, and It’s Free.

Not even the candy-craving critter Om Nom can resist the allure of steam-powered technology. Today’s free Steam Box update for the Android and iOS versions of ZeptoLab’s popular physics puzzler may not offer popular PC games via Valve’s online service, but it does deliver 25 new levels featuring the awesome power of super-heated water. Considering…

Joe Danger‘s Most Impressive Stunt is How Good His Mobile Game Turned Out

When I first caught wind of Hello Games bringing their stunt-racing hero Joe Danger to iOS, I imagined a straight port of the original PlayStation Network release, complete with a screen cluttered with virtual controls. Instead they’ve delivered a game that fully embraces the touch-based platform, one that’s as refreshing to play as it was…

This is Exactly Why I Traded My iPhone for a Galaxy Note II

Last month I officially migrated from Apple’s phone to Samsung’s latest device, breaking a four-year streak of iPhone exclusivity. Next Media Animation‘s latest animated report explains how the winds have shifted for the two mobile giants. It did feel a little bit like sawing off my foot at the ankle, now that I think about…

The Most Terrifying Skiing Video Game Ever Arrives on iOS

SkiFree is a simple little skiiing game that was first released in 1991 as part of the Microsoft Windows Entertainment Pack. I got a copy free with a ten-pack of Verbatim 3.5″ floppy disks. It was all good fun until the abominable snowmen started showing up. The primitive pixel monsters in SkiFree were a complete…

Give Me One Good Reason to Save Hundreds of Cats from a Raging Inferno

Fair enough, Glass Bottom Games. Coming soon to iOS, Android and possibly PC and Mac from there, Jones on Fire is the ultimate evolution of a game that came to life during BlazeJam, a benefit for those affected by the 2012 Colorado wildfire season. Now it’s about kitties and the saving thereof. This is good.…

Digital Storm Updates the ‘World’s Most Advanced PC’, Doesn’t Expect You To Buy It

Last March boutique PC maker Digital Storm unveiled the Aventum, a powerful gaming PC with a custom-engineered cooling system. They called it the “world’s most advanced PC”, and models started at nearly $4,000. Now Digital Storm is readying the Aventum II, featuring a copper tube liquid cooling solution and an even more advanced case design.…

You wanted more cowbell, you got it. Cowbell Hero is now in the iOS app store, featuring 16 licensed songs for $6.99.