New release roundup: Valorant Mobile, Mini Sudoku, Coffee Pool 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.

Valorant Mobile

The mobile iteration of Riot Games’ Valorant is now available exclusively in China, with 10 game modes and two original maps.

Most modes will be familiar to fans, like Spike Rush and Deathmatch, but there are new offerings too. There are also 18 different agents available to play as of launch, giving the 60 million pre-registered Chinese players substantial diversity in who and what to play in-game.

Hero Reborn: Eternal Pact

Currently available in soft launch in select parts of Asia, Joy Nice Games’ Hero Reborn: Eternal Pact is the latest MMORPG on the mobile scene with monsters, demons and ancient deities abound.

There are more than 100 deities to be found overall, and players are tasked with forming a divine pact to be reborn with incredible power. They might even forge new alliances or get married along the way to creating their own legend.

Pips

Logic puzzler Pips is a new original game on The New York Times’ website, where players must fill a board with dominoes, rotating them if need be, and arrange them to meet specific requirements.

One section of the board might require both dominoes to have the same value, for example, while another section might need one to have greater value than the other, and so on.

It marks the first game in the news site’s portfolio to feature drag-and-drop gameplay.

Mini Sudoku

In another expansion in what it means to be a games platform, LinkedIn has just launched Mini Sudoku as the sixth game on the professionals’ social media site.

Scaled down from half-hour struggle sessions to bite-sized brain teasers, Mini Sudoku has been specially designed to be completed in minutes, but players should expect the difficulty to ramp up over the course of a week.

Nekopara Love Project Volume 1

Anime and games figures manufacturer Good Smile Company has published Neko Works’ Nekopara Love Project Volume 1 on mobile, bringing the first instalment of its cat girl visual novel to iOS and Android.

The premium tale comes with multiple episodes, voice acting and four language options to choose from, namely Japanese, English, Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese.

Chicky Drop

Shortly after its Android release, gameaki’s Chicky Drop has landed on iOS with great responsibility for fowl fans.

Fast-paced puzzles await as one cartoon chicken makes a habit out of falling into holes - thus needing players to fill those holes with correctly shaped pieces before any mishaps occur.

Coffee Pool

A quick dose of daily pool awaits in Shallot Games’ Coffee Pool, where every day brings a new layout, random rules and unpredictable modifiers.

Whether looking for one game per day, or a longer session in League Mode, fans of potting balls into pockets may find exactly what they’re after here.