The Pocket Gamer Podcast

• The Pocket Gamer Podcast Episode 57 - Warframe, Where Winds Meet, and Another Eden

  What's your take on AI in video games? What's your favourite Final Fantasy game, and would you like to try to handcraft a universe of your own making? We tackle everything from managing football careers to arguing about what a warframe actually is in this week's (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast.After Iwan blows off some steam about mobile ads and what the heck they're actually doing to our economy, Will shares some insider tips about how you can ward off these unholy abominations with a little Wi-Fi trick (controversial opinions and hardcore gaming secrets only in this podcast).Then, Iwan updates us on Sega Football Club Champions 2026's upcoming launch, which completely goes over my and Will's heads because sports and paperwork simply do not compute. But if you do want to find something you actually can compute, you'll be happy to know that Netflix Puzzled has just launched to offer free daily brainteasers you can play both on mobile and on the Tudum website, with a special Stranger Things-themed coat of paint at the moment to celebrate the show's fifth season. We talk a bit about aging actors and how that's what's strange, before we move on to something that our finite minds can actually comprehend - crafting universes with our own hands. Will segues into the Epic Games Store's freebie of the week, Universe For Sale, but while the aesthetics here are definitely on point, I personally had a rough time crafting the universes being peddled. If you're curious, you can have a look at my Universe For Sale review. Your mileage may vary though, so why not give it a go? It's free until December 4th, after all.While we're on the subject of free stuff, Iwan diverts his enthusiasm to Where Winds Meet. He sheds light on the use of AI here not only in the gameplay but also on how you create your character, as you can apparently use your own voice to generate the sound your character makes - life truly is stranger than fiction.And speaking of fiction, Will announces Warframe's Android closed beta, then helps me wrap things up with Final Fantasy IX's crossover event within Another Eden. Of course, in true PG fashion, we add more waffles into the waffling on as we tease an upcoming podcast special, but not before revealing that Iwan may or may not be AI himself.

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• The Pocket Gamer Podcast Episode 56 - Dadish 4, The Sims Labs: Town Stories, and the 12th Pocket Gamer Awards

  Have you voted for your pick for Game of the Year yet? Who's your fave Hunter from Solo Leveling, and what is the point of it all, according to Iwan? We tackle everything from racing careers to missing vegetables in the (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast.Iwan's testing a new mic this week from Maono for a review that'll be up on the site soon, so if you think he's sounding pretty darn good (or pretty darn worse), do let us know.But first, Will proves he's the coolest kid on the block with his intro this week, before we dive right into The Sims Labs: Town Stories that's now in soft launch. Iwan sheds some light on the project and basically spills the tea as the resident Sims expert, and if you're curious, you can catch more of Iwan's hot takes over on our sister site, The Sims News.The highlight of our episode is, of course, the 12th Pocket Gamer Awards, which is now in its voting phase! This is your chance to let your voice be heard as you can vote for your favourites across a wide variety of categories, including the coveted Mobile Game of the Year. Super Farming Boy, for instance, is right up there with Pokemon TCG Pocket and Umamusume: Pretty Derby, and after a bit of horse-related feminism, Will moves on to kidnapped dads and bad parenting.That's because Dadish 4 is coming to mobile next month, and this time, it's the titular dad-that's-a-radish that's been abducted (and by the Homeowner's Association, no less). It's up to DJ (or Dadish Jr, of course) to rescue him and save the day.Unanswered letters to Thomas K Young turn to unanswered letters to poncle as Iwan discusses the Vampire Survivors spin-off Vampire Crawlers (and the powerful psychic damage he's been sending over to poncle), but not before taking us through the new AFK Journey collab with Delicious in Dungeon. This takes us to scary territory for some reason, which is why I segue into the equally cryptic TR-49 - inkle's upcoming narrative mystery that's all about real-life code-breaking documents from WWII. It doesn't take long before Will gets down to business with the very business-y Laura Walker from Solo Leveling: Arise, because when you mean serious business, you can't go wrong with a secretary with a whip.

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• The Pocket Gamer Podcast Episode 55 - Horizon Steel Frontiers, Red Dead Redemption, and Palworld Mobile

  How do you rage against a giant judgmental pillar, and how soon can you get your hands on some Pals on mobile? We tackle everything from bad voice acting to the power of pronunciation in the (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast this week.After John Marston makes a brief cameo in this episode, Iwan brings us news of Red Dead Redemption's mobile port coming to iOS and Android courtesy of Netflix Games. It is, as he writes, "beginning to look a lot like Red-mas", so while the price tag is pretty hefty, you might be able to justify its purchase on Steam this season - or you can simply subscribe to Netflix to get it for free.Another big franchise is coming soon to mobile too with Horizon Steel Frontiers, a cross-platform MMORPG I'm super pumped about but likely won't be able to play too much because of my cursed tennis elbows. Still, it promises to bring all the totally awesome machines from the PlayStation hit onto mobile; plus, it looks like we're going to get some cool mounts too as the cherry on top.Then, Will tells us the odd lore behind ScourgeBringer, which is free on the Epic Games Store if you want to know what it's like to have an evil pillar as your mortal enemy (really). But if you're more into typical manga narratives rather than giant judgmental monoliths, Seven Knights Idle Adventure is doing a collab with popular manhwa The Swordmaster's Son, or you might want to put Mongil: Star Dive on your radar for even more anime-style visuals and feels.Apart from Netmarble's monster-taming adventure, G-Star 2025 also showcased Palworld Mobile in Korea over the weekend, where Krafton opened alpha test sign-ups for the highly anticipated project. And finally, we close out with the upcoming The Witcher collab within Sword of Convallaria - a title that might just elude Will's pronunciation prowess forever. We do offer this idea out into the ether, though: Geralt in a hot tub on wheels as a mount or as a kart racer - now that's a sure hit.

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• The Pocket Gamer Podcast Episode 54 - Arknights: Endfield, Sword of Justice, and Candy Crush

  What happened over the weekend in LA, and is this truly the Iwan and Friends show? The (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast focuses on Arknights: Endfield and all the hype surrounding it, with a few bits of immersive candies and pig squeals thrown in for good measure.After a bit of a kerfuffle about fake tax records, Iwan dives right into the heart of the matter, which is Arknights: Endfield's beta 2.0. Iwan gives us a very detailed look at all the bells and whistles at the event, especially with everything the upcoming RPG has to offer.There are a lot of interesting tidbits surrounding the mechanics and how they all relate to Arknights, so if you're curious, you can have a look at Iwan's preview, or find out more about what goes on behind the scenes in his interview with producer Light Zhong (it's a really insightful one!).And because immersion and interactivity are the name of the game these days, we move on to quirkier news as Candy Crush creates music that you can apparently actually taste - we're not even kidding. Will gives us the lowdown on these odd but certainly interesting musical twists, and while we do get into a bit of back-and-forth on whether or not this is actually a good idea, the hype is definitely real for this one, as the lollipops were instantly sold out online.Speaking of immersion, Clash Royale, on the other hand, is offering you the chance to immortalise yourself forever as the new hog squeal sound effect in the game, so if you're interested, there's still time to make a name for yourself on the official website.Before we end, we announce the official launch of Sword of Justice, where AI-powered NPCs actually remember how you interact with them - this means you'll likely have a much more immersive experience as you go along, because it seems we're all about immersion today. And finally, Totally Fishing now has an official TestFlight build you can give a go for all your wacky fishing needs.

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• The Pocket Gamer Podcast Episode 53 - Bendy and the Ink Machine, Squad Busters, and Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis

  Do you really need a Pal during the apocalypse (yes, you do), who is The Sassy JRPG Hater, and have we just irrevocably angered FF7 fans with our discussion on Healing Materia? The (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast offers both fast news and chaotic insights in this week's episode with the three of us back in.Will very dramatically takes us into the 12th annual Pocket Gamer Awards nominations, which are now open until mid-November. This means if you fancy seeing your fave picks up there, let your voice (or vote) be heard by filling in the nomination form! Then, you can dabble in a little bit of eldritch horror in Asphalt Legends Unite, where Iwan gives us the details on the popular racer's Cthulhu crossover event. And to continue with all the leftover Halloween spooks, Bendy and the Ink Machine is the Epic Games Store freebie of the week, so you can go ahead and creep yourself out with horrific mascots and cursed, abandoned lairs.Iwan and Will talk a bit about the circumstances surrounding the Epic Games Store's free games program, before we segue into the equally horrific world of Once Human collaborating with the not-so-horrific world of Palworld. While the crossover might seem odd at first glance, it actually does make sense given the nature of the gameplay, so if you're curious about how your Pals can help you survive the apocalypse, now's your chance.Then, we move on to the sad news of Squad Busters unfortunately getting shuttered next year, which definitely comes as a surprise given it's been fully launched and not in soft-launch as opposed to other games Supercell previously shut down. Iwan gives us the lowdown on the comings and goings in the biz behind the scenes for a bit before Will launches into an inspirational speech complete with motivational music on how he believes in Supercell - and perhaps we all should too.And finally, we cap off the episode with Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis' crossover with Final Fantasy XIII, in which we might've angered some FF7 fans by pondering the intricacies of Healing Materia and Aerith's popularity in the midst of it all (but not before we meet Iwan's alter-ego, The Sassy JRPG Hater).

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