New release roundup: Slime Rancher, Battle Waves: Mobile, Pictonico!, 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.

Battle Waves: Mobile

Real-time deck builder Battle Waves: Mobile is out now with a 32-faction roster in tow. Encouraging experimentation, the title allows six factions to be combined into one deck, bolstered by team bonuses.

Solo players can refine their deck throughout the campaign before jumping into ranked PvP, getting to grips with a range of critters, dragons and more along the way.

Indie dev Gabriel’s Games surpassed 20,000 Google Play pre-registrations in the lead-up to Battle Waves: Mobile, available today on Android and iOS.

Pictonico!

Nintendo’s new mobile game Pictonico! is intentionally "kind of silly". Players can take photos of themselves, friends or family and stretch faces, feed lollipops, pluck cartoon nose hairs and more - completing wacky challenges as quickly as possible.

A small selection of minigames can be played for free, but the full collection of 80 games will require multiple purchases.

Slime Rancher

In Monomi Park’s indie adventure Slime Rancher, players take up the mantle of Beatrix LeBeau, a bold traveller setting out for a new life off-planet. Leaving Earth, she heads for the Far, Far Range to breed and raise slimes.

In another twist on the genre’s norms, players will do so from a first-person perspective. Almost eight years on from its PS4 launch, mobile gamers can finally get stuck into Slime Rancher through publisher Playdigious.

Bufo Jump

Hopping onto iOS and Android, Neutronized’s colourful new game Bufo Jump gives gamers a taste of lakeside living through the eyes of a frog.

Actually, this 3D platformer will take them through ponds, caves and even an industrial site, gathering fruit and compiling a stylish collection of hats and sunglasses. Of course, they’ll have to avoid many traps and enemies in the process.

Clay Jam

After 2012 game Clay Jam re-released as a premium mobile title this March, its developer YumYumYukYuk has now launched a separate free version with ads.

Available now on iOS and Android, the hand-animated claymation title sees players make monsters, squash beasts and roll Fat Pebble down five distinctly weird hills.

Tiny Aquarium: Mobile

Aquatic simulator Tiny Aquarium has set sail for the App Store and Google Play with its aptly named new edition, Tiny Aquarium: Mobile.

This chilled-out title is all about growing a digital aquarium from a single egg to a full tank, meanwhile learning facts about each fish’s real-world counterpart. There are more than 120 kinds to unlock, and developer Lunheim Studios has also created some original species so even the biggest fish fanatic can encounter something new.

Tomb Busters

Co-op horror game Tomb Busters has finally arrived in the West after surpassing 200 million installs in China.

This Giant Games hit sees players take on tombs solo or in squads of four, confronting every threat from undead monsters to creepy Chinese folklore and even the environment itself. Blood moons and a solar eclipse are just a few of the hazards to prepare for, but the loot might just be worth it.

Pile-Up Poker

As its comeback continues, Yahoo Games has launched another new daily puzzle game in Pile-Up Poker.

‘Poker’ may be in the name, but this addition turns the classic card game on its head with no bluffing, no chips to gamble and no opponents, either. Rather, this single-player experience is all about strategically placing cards within a 4x4 grid, leveraging multipliers to build high scores across columns and rows.