What the Clash? Emerges as the Year's Most Captivating and Quirky Mobile Game

The year’s most addictive and fast-moving mobile game features a cheerful, round character whose head is a hand, using a lively green fish as a table tennis ball before shooting arrows at a bull’s-eye popping out of a toaster shaped like a waffle.

The playful absurdity at the heart of What the Clash? fuels its charm. This Apple Arcade exclusive draws clear inspiration from Nintendo’s whimsical WarioWare microgame collection.

Early attempts at the initial trio of games—bizarre takes on table tennis, racing, and archery—proved challenging. Players can unlock five additional games without charge, but even with tutorials available, the unconventional combinations of challenges remain unpredictable, as if designed by a mischievous inventor. The overall tone leans more toward comedic chaos than horror.

Each round begins with two online players facing a poker table from an overhead view, where three game cartridges await selection. A spinning green wine bottle randomly chooses a game—often racing—loading it into a console reminiscent of 1980s Nintendo hardware.

Players receive a hand of cards and must select the one most likely to secure victory amid ensuing pandemonium. The game’s inventive twist lies in these card combinations. For example, one complex mash-up features slot-car racers impeded by nonchalant black cats’ paws, demanding precise timing and quick reflexes—skills that come naturally to some, but not all.

What the Clash? continues the tradition of its predecessors, What the Golf? and What the Car?, by infusing twisted humor into every milestone, including a deliberately off-key rendition of “Happy Birthday” played on a concertina. This quirky tune seems to be performed by Clash Handicoot, a recurring character inspired by a popular PlayStation game from the mid-1990s.