Virtual Mom- Dream Family Sim is a simulator where players get to experience the mom life. However, it might be the most nonsensical and boring mobile game of the bunch. While I understand that there are gamers out there that love a good simulation game, be it goat simulation or some other outside-the-box fun, Virtual Mom- Dream Family Sim basically simulates being a mom with a really nonexistent father who does little to help you, while living in a super emotionally flat world (certainly not the “dream family” it claims to simulate).

The father even says, while the mother is, with no emotion on her face, writhing in pain as she starts to feel the initial contractions of childbirth “Calm down.” It’s the most unrealistic simulator I’ve ever seen. And, if I am being brutally honest, the babies aren’t the cutest I’ve ever seen. There, I said it.

So, Virtual Mom- Dream Family Sim is essentially single motherhood without any of the emotion, any of the fun, and with the bonus of having a dysfunctional family unit that could scare anyone off real life motherhood. There’s also some questionable mothering that takes place with unrealistic tasks that sometimes seperate the mother from the twins.

The gameplay for this weird mobile game is also painful, slow, behind on the times, and frustrating overall. While I am not a fan of simulator games, simulator lovers certainly deserve better than this weird mom simulation. Suffice it to say that this mobile game is weird in a bad way.

Gameplay

Gameplay involves basic motherly tasks like warming milk, cooking cereal, and caring for the twin babies in a very beige, boring home. There are some major mechanical issues with some of the tasks, such as driving, which doesn’t include reverse. Basically, if you bump into something, good luck getting back on the road.

The gameplay is not only unrealistic, but awkward and frustrating. Walking and driving are particularly painful in this game due to outdated controls. If you enjoy clunky controls, out of control cars, and being an emotionally devoid single mother with an absent partner, this game is for you!

Developed by

Haroon Abbas

Platform(s)

• iPhone iOS 9.0 or later
• iPad iPadOS 9.0 or later
• iPod iOS 9.0 or later
• Mac macOS 11.0 or later (M1 chip or later)

Merge Animals 3D- Mutant Race is an action game that is odd in concept, but with fairly simple yet amusing gameplay. The concept being that mobile gamers create weird, mutant creatures who perform on various obstacle courses. May the best mutant win! And, the funny thing is: It’s actually kind of fun. By kind of fun I mean, I didn’t get bored in 5 minutes and the weird-factor of the game wore off quickly.

Merge Animals 3D- Mutant Race has definite mad scientist vibes, certainly reminding me of the 2012 The Amazing Spider-Man Combining the wings of a dragon, the arms of a gorilla, the shell of a turtle, and the head of a rhinoceros creates some interesting results, both visually and in gameplay.

Gameplay is very simple, but, again, somehow not boring. Though, I don’t know that Merge Animals 3D- Mutant Race is a mobile game that gamers can get lost in for hours. It could, however, keep gamers amused in a waiting room or relax them before trying to fall asleep.

Gameplay

Gameplay basically consists of creating your mutant creature by combining various animal body parts and properties including damage, climbing, swimming, flight, and running. As gamers scroll through various test tubes, they can see which properties each animal has and inject their test subject with that serum. It produces some interesting results.

Gamers can then watch as they compete in a trying obstacle course with two other mutants. The result: amusing. However, I think my threshold for a game like this without any real story or background is about 30 minutes tops.

Developed by

Say Games LTD.

Platform(s)

• iPhone iOS 11.0 or later
• iPad iPadOS 11.0 or later
• iPod iOS 11.0 or later
• Mac macOS 11.0 or later (M1 chip or later)
• Android

Blobfish Evolution is a silly and slightly disturbing action game in which players play a blobfish who absorbs other blobfish in order to evolve into a very creepy looking blobfish mutant. Maybe it is the creepiness of the blobfish or the concept of absorbing other blobfish to evolve, but this mobile game is absolutely bizarre.

Blobfish Evolution is even marketed as “pretty weird” and “frightening but addicting,” which I actually agree is fairly accurate. Something about being a scary-looking mutant blobfish evolving into an even scarier mutant version of a blobfish kept me amused. Though, I really have to wonder who came up with this idea and why?

Why a blobfish? Why evolve by absorbing other blobfish? It’s a tad bit cannibalistic and creepy, but the art is cool, the music is decent, and the overall gameplay is simple but kind of… fun? Who says you can’t have fun and be creeped out at the same time?

Gameplay

Gameplay in Blobfish Evolution is extremely simple. Click the incoming blobfish to incapacitate it, click it again to absorb it, repeat until you are master of the blobfish, or until you are all the blobfish in some weird, mutant form.

My only issue with the gameplay in Blobfish Evolution is the waiting. Waiting between each blobfish or schools of blobfish is boring. It would’ve been more fun if there were other actions or tasks that players could try out while waiting for the next school.

While this game is fun, and I thoroughly enjoy being a creepy ocean nightmare, I also think the simplicity of Blobfish Evolution makes for a game that is fun, but not so bingeable.

Developed by

Bithead LLC

Platform(s)

• iPhone iOS 8.2 or later
• iPadOS 8.2 or later
• iPod iOS 8.2 or later
• Mac macOS 11.0 or later (M1 chip or later)

Butts in Space is an overtly odd action game with a very specific theme. I think it’s pretty obvious why this mobile game could be considered a bit odd. The playable character in this bizarre game is a butt, in fact, all the characters are butts. Butts that are in space, of course, as the name of this game suggests.

Watching the opening cinematic for this mobile game definitely had me in a state of confusion and laughter as a maniacal butt in a cape, who has stolen all the toilet paper, talks with his, well… butts. The other space butts are then forced to hunt down toilet paper by floating aimlessly through space and collecting as much as possible. To call this game weird is an understatement. There are admittedly catchy toilet paper butt songs, various playable butts depending on your preference (though you have to buy the premium game to pick a butt besides Butt Butt), and various butt-related boosters floating around space among the asteroids.

Basically, it’s Start Trek with butts.

Gameplay

Gameplay in Butts in Space should be intuitive, but it isn’t. In fact, the gameplay in this butt-themed mobile game is a bit basic and doesn’t feel natural. It should be simple to move Butt Butt, or any other playable butt, from side to side, but I found that controls were sometimes glitchy and late to react to commands.

Gameplay is also just a bit underwhelming. While Butts in Space has an overall solid theme, decent art, arcade-like music, and surprisingly amusing cinematic moments, the gameplay itself got boring within the span of about 5 minutes. So, while I actually wanted to love this game, I found the gaming experience overall memorable but over-simplified.

Developed by

Dusty Tophat Ltd.

Platform(s)

• iPhone iOS 7.0 or later
• iPad iPadOS 7.0 or later
• iPod iOS 7.0 or later
• Mac macOS 11.0 or later (M1 chip or later)
• Android 4.1

Troll Face Quest Video Games 2 is a bizarre role playing game, though I am not sure that categorization is accurate, where mobile gaming lovers can figure out various, silly and odd scenarios such as how to help the gray cat use the restroom and how to save a creature in a yellow raincoat from a crazed cannibal via the joy of music.

Each scenario is vastly different than the last, meaning players never know what to expect, and it’s difficult to get bored, since players can’t foresee what’s next. The playable characters get weirder and weirder, the scenarios more and more out-of-the-box, and the way out of each scenario gradually more interesting and complex.

Gameplay, though simple and based on players finding their way through each scenario, is interesting and, at times, even a little challenging. Gameplay in Troll Face Quest Video Games 2 is the must be diverse of the bunch in this list of oddball games, but is probably not for every mobile gamer and might take a gamer who likes games that come with a bit of a question mark.

Gameplay

Gamplay in Troll Face Quest Video Games 2 is interesting, because it requires figuring out each scenario. While some scenarios look obvious, the solution is almost never what one would expect. Bizarre solutions provide interesting, funny endings, and scenarios only last a few minutes.

While gameplay is super simplistic, it’s varied by the complexity of each scenario. Somehow or another, I found myself actually enjoying this head-scratcher of a mobile game, and it’s still on my iPhone’s Home Screen.

Developed by

SPIL Games

Platform(s)

• iPhone iOS 10.0 or later
• iPad iPadOS 10.0 or later
• iPod iOS 10.0 or later
• Android

Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms is a Dungeons & Dragons strategy management game uniting characters from throughout the D&D multiverse into a grand adventure.

Limited-Time Offer 7/14 – 7/21: Baeloth’s Gladiators of the Black Pits Pack (Over $100 USD Value – FREE!)

LOG IN NEXT WEEK: All players who log into Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms through the Epic Games Store between Thursday, 7/14/2022 at 11 AM Eastern and Thursday, 7/21/2022 at 11 AM Eastern will receive the Baeloth’s Gladiators of the Black Pits Pack!

The Epic Exclusive Baeloth’s Gladiators of the Black Pits Pack includes:

• Unlocks for the following Champions: Deekin (Slot 1), Widdle (Slot 2), Baeloth (Slot 4), Freely (Slot 7), and Havilar (Slot 9)
• Deekin Chests: 16 Gold Deekin Chests with 2 guaranteed Shiny equipment cards
• Widdle Chests: 16 Gold Widdle Chests with 2 guaranteed Shiny equipment cards
• Baeloth Chests: 16 Gold Baeloth Chests with 2 guaranteed Shiny equipment cards
• Freely Chests: 16 Gold Freely Chests with 2 guaranteed Shiny equipment cards
• Havilar Chests: 16 Gold Havilar Chests with 2 guaranteed Shiny equipment cards
• Two Week-Long Buff Potions: 1 Potion of the Gem Hunter, and 1 Potion of the Gold Hunter
• An Exclusive Skin: Black Pits Baeloth
• An Exclusive Familiar: Baby Tarrasque

This offer is available to all players logging in through the Epic Games Store, both new and existing. You must install and log into Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms to receive the Baeloth’s Gladiators of the Black Pits Pack. Tune in to twitch.tv/cnegames at 9 AM Pacific on July 13-15 and watch DM Mark Meer introduce the Champions to The Black Pits!

You are an Exile, struggling to survive on the dark continent of Wraeclast, as you fight to earn power that will allow you to exact your revenge against those who wronged you. Created by hardcore gamers, Path of Exile is an online Action RPG set in a dark fantasy world. With a focus on visceral action combat, powerful items and deep character customization, Path of Exile is completely free and will never be pay-to-win.

The Epic Games Store has been around for a while, the lesser-known alternative to Steam, the nearly-ubiquitous platform for game purchases since it launched in 2003. But, where Steam originally existed and launched to promote Valve games, Epic Games Store launched in 2018 and quickly rose to success on the Fortnite franchise. At the time of Epic’s launch, Steam took a dramatic 30% cut from the sales of video games through their platform! This hurt both game designers and users, and just wasn’t very nice. But the folks behind Epic realized something excellent: they could take a much lower cut and still have a profitable business. This led them to fast domination of the indie market, as small publishers flocked to the far better terms offered by Epic.

Mega Discounts

Epic Games Store offers some seriously incredible discounts on a regular basis, in addition to all the normal discounts one would expect on Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the usual holidays. But the most exciting is their weekly free game or add-on, which simply harpoons all competitors.

When I first heard about this free game, I thought that can’t be real. They must only offer tiny indie games. Not at all, dear reader. Not. At. All. Epic frequently lists unbelievable A-lister games on their weekly deal, as well as sometimes offer two free games instead of one. In addition, just because a studio is smaller doesn’t mean the games it makes aren’t impressive. I’ve picked up some of my favorite new games, for free, from this platform, and most of them have been made by smaller studios (or as side-projects for teams from big studios).

In KILLING FLOOR 2, players descend into continental Europe after it has been overrun by horrific, murderous clones called Zeds that were created by rogue elements of the Horzine Corporation. 6-player Co-Op & 12-player VS Zed-slaughtering mayhem.

Hunt: Showdown is a high-stakes, tactical PvPvE first-person shooter. Hunt for bounties in the infested Bayou, kill nightmarish monsters and outwit competing hunters – alone or in a group – with your glory, gear, and gold on the line.

The Epic Games Store has been around for a while, the lesser-known alternative to Steam, the nearly-ubiquitous platform for game purchases since it launched in 2003. But, where Steam originally existed and launched to promote Valve games, Epic Games Store launched in 2018 and quickly rose to success on the Fortnite franchise. At the time of Epic’s launch, Steam took a dramatic 30% cut from the sales of video games through their platform! This hurt both game designers and users, and just wasn’t very nice. But the folks behind Epic realized something excellent: they could take a much lower cut and still have a profitable business. This led them to fast domination of the indie market, as small publishers flocked to the far better terms offered by Epic.

Mega Discounts

Epic Games Store offers some seriously incredible discounts on a regular basis, in addition to all the normal discounts one would expect on Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the usual holidays. But the most exciting is their weekly free game or add-on, which simply harpoons all competitors.

When I first heard about this free game, I thought that can’t be real. They must only offer tiny indie games. Not at all, dear reader. Not. At. All. Epic frequently lists unbelievable A-lister games on their weekly deal, as well as sometimes offer two free games instead of one. In addition, just because a studio is smaller doesn’t mean the games it makes aren’t impressive. I’ve picked up some of my favorite new games, for free, from this platform, and most of them have been made by smaller studios (or as side-projects for teams from big studios).

You’ll first need to ensure the image you’re working with is a vector. If it’s a picture, you can turn it into a vector by going to the top menu and choosing Window > File Trace.

Next, we need to enable transparency in order to delete the background, otherwise it defaults to a plain white background. To do this, go to the top menu and navigate to View > Show Transparency Grid. The Shift + Ctrl/Command + D keyboard shortcut will also enable transparency.

Select the image and go to Object > Expand from the top menu to show all of the points in your vector image. Select only the points that pertain to the background you want to remove.

Once you’ve selected the background, press Delete on your keyboard. This will remove anything that was selected and replace it with transparency.

Now that your background is removed, you can save and export the image or continue your work in Illustrator.

Alternatively, you can use a clipping mask to remove the background. You will need to enable transparency from step one and then follow our guide on how to use a Clipping Mask in Illustrator to make the background transparent.