New release roundup: New York Times Bonus Puzzles, Villain!, DIY Dadish, and more

While the deals and the stats of the gaming world are important, nothing would happen without the research, funding and, of course, development that goes into making a great game.

So here’s a collection of the most exciting new mobile games right now, the developers and publishers behind them, and why, exactly, they've made the cut.

Hold the Tile!

Hold the Tile! is a new low-poly medieval game from Mikhail Vartanov.

Building a base and commanding warriors and mages in real-times battles are core to this title. Players can explore unknown terrain in search of enemy bases and ultimately collide in combat. For the strategically minded, planning a good ambush may turn out favourably too.

DIY Dadish

The latest entry in the food-ish platformer series Dadish focuses on players’ own creations.

Aptly named DIY Dadish, Thomas K Young’s latest entry in the series allows players to build their own levels across 15 themes, with 12 playable characters to tackle them with. There are hundreds of objects to place within those self-made levels and the system is said to be easy to grasp for younger creators.

Villain!

Boxville developer Triomatica Games has launched its latest game Villain!, a logic puzzler with a theatrical twist.

The goal is to match actors to the right roles, considering their ambitions and concerns, in order to put on the perfect show. That may also mean rearranging the cast or rewriting the script to accommodate, to find every performer’s dream role.

This standalone mobile title represents the first chapter of I Want to Play the Villain!, which Triomatica plans to release across platforms in early 2027.

New York Times Bonus Puzzles

Available on the web and the New York Times Games mobile app, subscribers to the outlet can now access bonus puzzles with a new angle.

Wordle in 1, for example, features a variation on the original Wordle where most guesses have been pre-made, giving sufficient clues but leaving just one attempt at the correct word.

Connections 3x3, as its name implies, features three groups of three instead of the original’s four groups of four. Colorful Strands, meanwhile, is the same game as Strands but with its own fresh visuals.

Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris

Crystal Dynamics’ Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris has made the move to mobile more than a decade on from its original console release.

Whether it’s your first time around or a nostalgia trip, the premium title offers puzzles to solve, arcade-inspired battles to overcome and full gamepad support. Online co-op also allows players to team up to take on the challenge together, up to four people at a time.

Lily's Adventures

Tactile Games’ latest puzzler Lily's Adventures sees players clearing challenges and renovating a garden, meeting characters and even finding romance along the way.

Fitting the gardening theme, coloured blocks in each puzzle depict a range of stylised flowers. Players have a limited number of moves to meet the objectives of a given level, such as matching a particular colour so many times.