StoneAge World, one of the top mobile gaming titles in South Korea, just brought some modern machines into the prehistoric past. Netmarble announced the first content update for the pet-collecting mobile MMORPG with "Machine Invasion", the first invasion of the fantasy-adventure land of Tectonika by Machine Pets. Now, weekly battles against Machine Pets, along with other in-game improvements, are available for players to conquer.

But that's all the new hotness; where on Earth did this game come from in the first place? Well, way back in the prehistoric days of the Internet (circa 1999), a super-popular PC game called Stone Age delighted critter-collectors everywhere. It was cast in the mold of another game you might have heard of, Pokémon, though this title obviously came with a "caveman" aesthetic. The plot actually had players and their pets resisting industrial "progress" in their otherwise pristine prehistoric world. That game's 200-million or so players were what Netmarble had in mind when they rolled out the similarly titled Stone Age on mobile platforms back in 2016.

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Image via Netmarble

Then, just a couple of weeks ago, StoneAge World debuted on both the App Store and Google Play, though it came with criticisms of an in-game energy system that throttled players' abilities to actually catch 'em all (dinosaurs, that is), unless they wanted to grind out "vitality" points or cash in real-world currency for in-game energy. Jam City's Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery faced similar criticisms early on, but that game has quickly shaped up to be a favorite of mine. However, for yours truly, I find the base game of StoneAge World to be rather mindless; a "set it and forget it" option allows you to cruise from one mission marker to another with rarely a touch of the screen and no necessary searching of your environment. The plot is similar to that of its predecessor, but it's clear that the attention was focused on monetizing the collection game, something I honestly haven't gotten into yet. I've been waiting for the story to pick up momentum, so perhaps the "Machine Invasion" will inject something interesting here. Details from the press release follow below:

"StoneAge World takes the concept of pet-collection and role-playing game (RPG) mechanics and seamlessly blends them together with a delightful and venturesome MMO experience set in a whimsically inspired take on prehistoric societies. Set in the land of Tectonika, players will embrace the role of “Trainer,” a powerful warrior who collects, tames, and trains pets to protect the land from enemies. With over 250 pets including dinosaurs, wooly mammoths, pigs, wolves and more, players will have their hands full defending Tectonika against unknown enemies from the up-and-coming Machine Civilization and exploring the unique quirks of prehistoric society.

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Image via Netmarble

In this new update, players must travel to Gravelin Island to clear the land against Metallic enemy pets! There is also a ‘Terminate the Machine’ event that runs from now until July 16th where prizes are earned based on overall participation of the event.

Every week on specifics days the Machine Invasion will occur. Machine Pets (one of Kaki family) will invade the field of Gravelin Island, where trainers are tasked to clear the land against these enemies. Players can look forward to combating these Machine Pets up to ten times on days when they spawn, with rewards given out based on both the number of participation and the total accumulated damage to Machine Pets.

As part of this new weekly content, Netmarble is also launching a ‘Terminate the Machine’ event that runs until July 16th. In addition to daily missions that provide special prizes upon completion, rewards will be sent to those who participate in this event, with the value of prizes scaling based on overall participation. Other additions to StoneAge World this week include a ‘Ticket Event,’ which gives redeemable prize tickets according to the number of daily participants of the Stone Age Life, and a new mission where players receive items based on the amount of Stones and Shells they spend."

StoneAge World is now available for download on the App Store and Google Play, with supporting languages in English, Korean, Chinese (simplified / traditional), Japanese and Thai available for players. More information on StoneAge World can be found on the official website (https://stone.netmarble.com/en) and on the game’s official Facebook.

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Image via Netmarble