Mobile News, Videos & Reviews

Hearthstone is even better when you can play it co-op

By Philip Kollar and Griffin McElroy on May 19, 2016 05.19.16

We already sang the praises of Hearthstone's surprising and fun co-op boss battle Tavern Brawl when it first showed up late last year. But is it still fun six months later? Yep! Or at least, it is when you can play with a buddy. In the video above, taken from our Facebook Live stream yesterday, we once again learn the ropes of taking on the big bad Gearmaster Mechazod. I won't spoil whether or not we succeed, but it's safe to say there are some struggles along the way. For more Hearthstone goofiness, check out our full playlist on YouTube.

Can Nintendo bring the Polygon staff back to the mobile experience?

Here's why we've stopped playing Miitomo — and how Nintendo could win us back

By Allegra Frank on May 13, 2016 05.13.16

On March 31, we sat glued to our phones as we took our first steps into the world of Miitomo. It was at once an individual and collective experience: One by one, Polygon staffers sent friend requests, congregating inside of Nintendo's social network. We crafted our Miis in our likenesses (with varying accuracy). For a group of co-workers who are scattered between both coasts, Miitomo was a way to bring us all into the same room — virtually, at least. No, it's not a full-blown Nintendo game on Android and iOS, like some might have wanted. Yes, Nintendo calls it "free-to-start," meaning microtransactions abound. But what pulled me — and many of my colleagues — into the game at first was the idea that this tiny world was an exclusive place where we could all...

Issue 19

May 25, 2016

Designing Mirror’s Edge: The making of a franchise

By Phil Kollar

Go behind the scenes with DICE on the creation of Mirror’s Edge and Mirror’s Edge Catalyst.

We show off our favorite Hearthstone: Whispers of the Old Gods decks so far

By Philip Kollar and Griffin McElroy on May 12, 2016 05.12.16

Hearthstone's Whispers of the Old Gods expansion has been out for a few weeks now, but in a lot of ways the new meta for the game is still settling. Everyone's trying bizarre new decks, and even bad players like us are having a blast testing what works. In the video above, taken from our Facebook Live stream yesterday, we play a couple of games, showing off four of the decks we've been loving thus far. The old god C'Thun is represented, as is our old friend Sky Cap'n Kragg. We even have a druid versus druid showdown with wildly different decks. If you enjoy the video above, you can check out more Hearthstone wackiness on our full YouTube playlist.

An African-American competitor faces foul abuse on a DreamHack chat stream.

Racism, Hearthstone and Twitch

By Colin Campbell on May 12, 2016 05.12.16

Miller, who plays as TerrenceM for Gale Force eSports, fought his way through to the finals of DreamHack in Austin on Sunday. DreamHack is a long-standing series of gaming contests and digital festivals that take place around the world. In previous tournaments, Miller was generally eliminated early. In these finals, he played against the highly respected Keaton "Chakki" Gill, and lost 3-2. Miller was happy with his performance, and with his second place. But his memory of the tournament is always going to be tainted. During the Twitch livestream of his performance, and the interviews that followed, Miller, who is African-American, was the subject of a torrent of racist abuse on the stream's chat panel. The abuse included hateful language targeting African-Americans, as well as...

If you could only put two cards in your Hearthstone deck, what would they be?

By Philip Kollar and Griffin McElroy on May 11, 2016 05.11.16

This week's Tavern Brawl challenge is one of the best in Hearthstone history, and we had a ton of fun with it on our Facebook Live stream earlier today. However, if you weren't able to tune in live, we've got you covered now. This week, the Tavern Brawl is titled "Top Two," and players are challenged to pick only two cards from the entire Hearthstone collection. Once they get in a game, their deck will be filled with 15 copies of each of the two chosen cards. This means you can have 15 of one particularly powerful spell, 15 of any legendary minion in the game or ... hey, even 15 shieldbearers. That last one is a better idea than you might think. Check out our video of the Tavern Brawl above, and bounce over to our full YouTube playlist for even more Hearthstone antics. We'll be...

Uncharted: Fortune Hunter arrives on mobile, unlocks rewards in Uncharted 4

By Samit Sarkar on May 05, 2016 05.05.16

Uncharted 4: A Thief's End is still five days away, but owners of smartphones and tablets can get their Uncharted fix with a new mobile game, Uncharted: Fortune Hunter, that launched today on Android and iOS. Uncharted: Fortune Hunter is a free-to-play puzzle game starring Nathan Drake and his mentor, Victor "Sully" Sullivan. The player navigates Nate around puzzle boards by dragging routes for him on the touchscreen. The dashing hero occasionally has to interact with objects in the environment, like rocks that can be placed on weighted panels or special stations that alter the paths available to him. Later puzzles throw obstacles at Nate, such as dart traps. The game features six different "adventures," or groups of puzzles, each of which is themed to a...

HoloGrid: Monster Battle isn't Star Wars: HoloChess, but it's close and on Kickstarter

By Dave Tach on May 04, 2016 05.04.16

It takes less than five minutes into my meeting with Mike Levine, president of developer HappyGiant, before he smiles behind his beard and drops his first goodnatured f-bomb. "It's really a giant fuck you to the free-to-play model," Levine tells me standing among tens of thousands of attendees at PAX East, in front of an iPad showing a pre-release version of his unreleased game, HoloGrid: Monster Battle. He's explaining his plan for the game, and it's nothing if not bold. I have no idea if it'll work. Sometimes, there'a a fine line between bold and unrealistic. Either way, I can't stop thinking about it. HoloGrid: Monster Battle, he tells me, takes the world's most popular app distribution ecosystem but rejects the most lucrative way to make money there. It takes a bit of inspiration...

Review | More
Fallout 4
- Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, Win
- Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
- Developer: Bethesda Game Studios
- Release Date: 2015-11-10
Review | More
Destiny: The Taken King
- Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, PS3, 360
- Publisher: Activision
- Developer: Bungie
- Release Date: 2015-09-15
Review | More
Super Mario Maker
- Platforms: Wii U
- Publisher: Nintendo
- Developer: Nintendo EAD Group No. 4
- Release Date: 2015-09-11
Review | More
Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain
- Platforms: PS3, 360, Xbox One, PS4, Win
- Publisher: Konami
- Developer: Kojima Productions
- Release Date: 2015-09-01

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The Hearthstone legendary cards you must craft ASAP

By Philip Kollar on May 02, 2016 05.02.16

With last week's release of the Whispers of the Old Gods expansion and the introduction of standard mode, a lot of new players are checking out Hearthstone and old players who wandered aware are returning. Whatever your status, one cold truth of reality is shared by everyone: There are a lot of cards in Hearthstone, and it's hard to know which ones you really need. In the smart video above, popular and talented Hearthstone streamer Kripparrian runs down his choices for the most must-have legendaries in the game right now. For his list, Kripparian splits the legendaries into three tiers of desirability. The best of the best are in tier one, the best class legendaries are in tier two, and strong but situational legendaries can be found in tier three. He stresses that legendaries in the...

Cracker Jack abandons a century of prizes for QR codes and mobile games

By Owen S. Good on Apr 27, 2016 04.27.16

Gen Xers who remember scoring the coveted weather predictor, smearing on a temporary tattoo or throwing out yet another useless magnifying glass today saw another symbol of their childhood annihilated: Cracker Jack is replacing the toy with a QR code for some mobile games. The Toy Surprise has been in every box of Cracker Jack for more than 100 years — going back to 1912. But it now gives way to QR codes for baseball themed games, which one accesses after downloading another app, called Blippar, on their iOS or Android mobile device. Oh boy, kid, here's your prize. Yay. The games are "baseball-inspired mobile digital experiences" as Cracker Jack doubles down on its nostalgic ties to the game thanks to a song. The four "experiences" range from a dance cam...

Fire Emblem and Animal Crossing are coming to mobile devices

By Michael McWhertor on Apr 27, 2016 04.27.16

Nintendo will release a pair of mobile apps based on its Fire Emblem and Animal Crossing franchises, the company confirmed today. Both are targeted for release sometime this fall. Fire Emblem for mobile devices will be "more accessible in comparison to the Fire Emblem games for Nintendo's dedicated gaming systems," Nintendo said in a release, but will "offer the great value of a role-playing strategy game." The mobile version of Animal Crossing will connect somehow to at least one of the Animal Crossing games for Nintendo's dedicated gaming systems, though the company didn't specify which titles would feature connectivity. Nintendo's most recent games in the franchise include Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival for Wii U and Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer for 3DS. Nintendo...

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How to get 13 free Hearthstone: Whispers of the Old Gods packs starting tomorrow

By Philip Kollar on Apr 25, 2016 04.25.16

Tomorrow marks the launch of Hearthstone's third full expansion, Whispers of the Old Gods, and Blizzard is celebrating by giving players a lot of card packs for free. In total, you'll be able to get 13 packs with just a little bit of effort. Here's how it works. First off, simply logging in to Hearthstone after Whispers of the Old Gods launches will get you three packs of cards from the new expansion. You'll also receive a quest upon logging in to win two games in the new standard format, which bans cards from the Goblins vs. Gnomes expansion and The Curse of Naxxramas adventure set. Winning those games will net you five more packs. As a follow-up to that initial standard format quest, you'll receive another quest to win seven games in standard format. Pulling off this feat gets you...

Splatoon stuff is coming to Miitomo

By Michael McWhertor on Apr 20, 2016 04.20.16

A series of Splatoon-inspired items — headwear, clothing and more — are coming to Nintendo's social app Miitomo next week, giving squid-themed shooter fans the opportunity to dress their Miis like Inkling boys and girls. Getting your hands on some of these stuff is going to require some work, however. Two items — the Inkling boy wig and Inkling girl wig — will be given away for free, provided Nintendo fans retweet the promotion's official hashtag enough on Twitter. At 10,000 retweets the boy wig will unlock, and at 20,000 the girl wig will unlock. Seeing as how the original post containing the hashtag (#Miitomo_Splatoon_RT) has already been retweeted more than 7,000 times, chances are good. Other items will be available through Miitomo's pachinko-style game,...

Let's talk through Hearthstone's big card changes that are about to hit

By Philip Kollar and Griffin McElroy on Apr 20, 2016 04.20.16

Okay, sure, we have a new Tavern Brawl challenge to check out in this week's Hearthstone video. That's exciting. But we have something much bigger to focus on this week. Earlier today, Blizzard revealed that a dozen cards from Hearthstone's classic set will be getting major changes to coincide with next week's release of the Whispers of the Old Gods expansion set. A bunch of the most popular and most powerful Hearthstone cards are going through some major changes, and we have some thoughts. Check it out above, and let us know your own thoughts in the comments here or on YouTube. You can also watch more of our Hearthstone videos in our full playlist on YouTube.

Hearthstone nerf alert: major changes coming to classic cards

By Philip Kollar on Apr 20, 2016 04.20.16

When Blizzard announced that it was creating a new standard format for Hearthstone earlier this year, it also revealed that it would be tweaking an undisclosed number of cards from the classic set to ensure they wouldn't remain overly powerful in standard format. In a blog post today, Blizzard has finally revealed which cards are being changed and how substantially. As suggested by Blizzard in various interviews leading up to this announcement, the Druid class core card were hit the hardest. The seven-mana-cost Ancient of Lore used to allow players to choose between drawing two cards or restoring five health. While its cost and stats, as well as the health restore, will stay the same, it can now only draw a single card if that effect is chosen. One of the deadliest combos in the game...

The Walking Dead: Michonne's finale launches next week

By Samit Sarkar on Apr 19, 2016 04.19.16

"What We Deserve," the third and final episode of the miniseries The Walking Dead: Michonne, will begin rolling out April 26, developer Telltale Games announced today. The episode will be available next week on Android, iOS, Mac, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Windows PC, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. Here's the synopsis from Telltale: In "What We Deserve," feeling the weight of choices both recent and long ago, Michonne tries to protect an innocent family... but Norma and the vengeful Monroe crew are closing in. As reality shatters and the ghosts of the daughters she abandoned demand to be heard, your choices will determine who lives, who dies, and what redemption really means in a world gone to hell. If you've played the second episode, "Give No Shelter," you can watch the video from...

Hearthstone: Whispers of the Old Gods expansion arrives next week

By Philip Kollar on Apr 19, 2016 04.19.16

The third full-sized expansion pack for Hearthstone, Whispers of the Old Gods, was announced over a month ago, but at the time Blizzard said only that the expansion would release "in late April or early May." Now the developer has revealed the exact date, and it's almost here. Blizzard announced today that Hearthstone: Whispers of the Old Gods will finally be available next Tuesday, April 26, in North America and Europe. It will arrive in Asia the following day, April 27. Must Read Everything we know about Hearthstone's next expansion Whispers of the Old Gods will introduce 134 new cards to the game, including "corrupted" variations on some classic minions. About half of the new cards have been revealed already, and Blizzard is planning to host a stream...

Weird and wonderful, Australia embraces indie

Australia's indie evolution on 'an island far away'

By Brian Crecente on Apr 19, 2016 04.19.16

To my left, a bank of lights glows blue under a silenced fan and an oversized red master alarm. On the far right of the console, an array of lights illuminates the core systems of the Ceres, showing the current status of each. All green for now. I watch silently on the center screen as my ship, its reactor and communications switched off, drifts dead in space through a nebula. The main display traces the route of my recently fired missile as it plots its way toward an unsuspecting pirate spaceship. On the far left bank of controls and lights, the switch that released the missile remains forgotten, still uncovered. My hand hovers over a button, waiting to spin the reactor back on, waiting for the missile to make contact. "He won't know what hit him," Jennifer Scheurle says...

Hearthstone gets new hero, Jurassic World new dinos during Apps for Earth fundraiser

By Brian Crecente on Apr 14, 2016 04.14.16

Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft starts selling a new hero today — Azeroth's protector mage Khadgar — as part of a weeklong Earth Day promotion on iTunes with all proceeds for the $5 character going to the World Wildlife Fund. Hearthstone is just one of 27 apps and add-ons for apps helping to raise money for the WWF as part of Apple's Apps for Earth fundraiser. From today until April 24, App Store customers will be able to pick up special apps or DLC with 100 percent of the proceeds going to the WWF. Apple says it selected the WWF to partner with during the week surrounding Earth Day because of the group's core global focus which includes striving for the conservation of forests, oceans, fresh water, wildlife, food and stopping climate change. Apps participating in the fundraiser (you...

A clever Hearthstone rule change produces some fun new decks

By Philip Kollar and Griffin McElroy on Apr 13, 2016 04.13.16

Every week in Hearthstone, the Tavern Brawl mode provides a unique twist on the regular card gameplay. But sometimes the best Tavern Brawls are ones that simply implement small changes to deckbuilding. Case in point: this week's excellent Tavern Brawl, titled the Great Stone of Challenge. It's based off the popular fan-run Challengestone tournament, and implements the rules from the first Challengestone. That means all spells in a deck must have an even mana cost, and all minions must have an odd attack value. Essentially you're cutting out around half of the possible options, providing a real challenge in building a good deck as well as preparing players for the upcoming introduction of standard format. We had a blast with this Tavern Brawl. Watch our game for yourself in the video...

How the UN used a video game to raise awareness for land mines

By Samit Sarkar on Apr 08, 2016 04.08.16

Instagram is a massively popular social network where hundreds of millions of people share photos and videos with the world. It's the platform of choice for shots of fancy meals, poorly lit bar scenes and cute animals. Now it can also be used to play a video game — albeit one that's hacked together. Earlier this week, the United Nations observed the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action. The annual event began a: decade ago, on April 4, 2006, as a way for the UN to highlight mine action: the effort to clear land mines and related explosive devices from countries around the globe; educate people about the dangers of such weapons; assist victims of land mines; advocate for a mine-free world; and destroy stockpiles of mines. The UN currently supports mine...

Disney Crossy Road launches today for mobile devices

By Megan Farokhmanesh on Apr 07, 2016 04.07.16

Disney Crossy Road — a new, Disney-themed version of the "endless Frogger"-style game Crossy Road — is launching today for mobile devices, Hipster Whale announced. The game will include nine worlds based on Disney and Pixar properties, with more than 100 characters. Each of the worlds, which span The Lion King, Toy Story, Inside Out and more, will feature different challenges and music based on their respective setting. According to Disney associate producer Travis Marshall, the team wanted to offer support across Disney's entire portfolio, from its classic characters like Mickey to attractions such as The Haunted Mansion. "Disney prides itself on is being fun for all ages," Marshall told Polygon. "We like to touch all demographics, and Crossy Road is something everyone can have fun...

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