The tower defense genre has been around for years, punctuated every so often by the release of a game that sets a new standard for how things should be. One of the first for the browser world was Desktop Tower Defense, and for the mobile market, an early heavy-hitter was the original Fieldrunners. Developer Subatomic Studios took a few years to do it, but the team has finally rolled out a worthy sequel with Fieldrunners 2. Expect more maps, more variety, more units, more enemies, and more rewards with this stunning release that will rewrite the way you think of the tower defense genre on iPhone.

A cinematic simulation of hacking that owes more to Wargames and Sneakers than Kevin Mitnick and Adrian Lamo, Uplink: Hacker Elitecyberpunk intrigue. Originally released by Introversion Software in 2001, and streamlined into the Hacker Elite version for the US market, the latter is now available for purchase from the lovely indie and retro game outlet GOG, and it's a worthy addition to any gamers library.

Outwitters is an asynchronous multiplayer strategy game from One Man Left, the creator of the equally captivating mobile game Tilt to Live. Outwitters takes place on a hex grid and stars three races of characters, each with a handful of unique units. By steadily moving soldiers across the board, deploying specialist healers, scouts, and the like, each team vies for control and the ultimate destruction of the other side's base. It's the most intense experience you can have with chubby pink soldiers and a field full of fish fighters!

Hey there strategy and tower defense fans! Just a little note to announce a bit of good news for iPhone and iPod Touch owners. Kingdom Rush, the so-awesome-it's-mega-awesome tower defense game from Ironhide Games, has finally made its way to small-screened iOS devices, following Kingdom Rush HD for iPad and the browser version of Kingdom Rush last year. The game stands out as one of the best defense/strategy game on the planet, capturing two awards in our Best of 2011 feature, including Best Browser Defense or Strategy game along with Game of the Year! If you haven't tried it in one of its incarnations, you owe it to yourself to correct that mistake immediately!

Role playing games aren't an uncommon sight, and neither are fling-based arcade games. But if you combine the two, throw in a dash of strategy, dozens of fish/cephalopod puns, and layer on some gorgeous artwork, you've got something truly rare. SQUIDS Wild West is the follow-up to the original SQUIDS game, combining a number of gameplay elements into a casual game that can ride two seahorses at the same time!

Looking at the title of Alexandria Bloodshow, your mind might fly all over the place wondering what genre the game represents. Sounds like a great name for a first person shooter set in ancient Egypt, right? Well, that may be, but in this case, Alexandria Bloodshow is actually a tactical card combat game that succeeds the even more unusually named SAMURAI BLOODSHOW: les vagues blanches, les nuages rouges. Yeah, that's right! Once you put the names aside, though, you'll find a couple of excellent slow-paced strategy games that will remind you of Plants vs. Zombies in some surprising ways.

Defense games are as common as smudged screens on the iOS mobile platform, but developer Simutronics has done something creatively different with Tiny Heroes, a game that has as much personality as it has evil minions at your disposal. Putting you in the role of castle owner, you must place traps and send out baddies to thwart the deluge of heroes who are after your gold. You'd think a few sawblades and a Gork or two would be enough, wouldn't you?

It's dangerous in the primordial soup, a place where infected organisms roam hungrily looking to consume or destroy anything that crosses their path. At least, that's the scenario behind the fantastic Amoebattle by Grab Games, a real-time strategy gem created for iOS devices. Inside, at the microscopic level, it's a constant state of warfare, and war is heck.

One part physics-based slinging game, one part RPG, and one part tactics, SQUIDS from The Game Bakers is a many-layered game that gracefully passes gameplay elements back and forth, creating a dynamic yet cohesive experience. While it starts out with a little Sling-like action, it ends up playing more like Ogre Battle, all without adding too much complexity or foregoing its casual roots. To top it off, SQUIDS looks as good as it plays, featuring top-notch visual design and a storyline and characters that are legitimately fun to engage with!

One part physics-based slinging game, one part RPG, and one part tactics, SQUIDS from The Game Bakers is a many-layered game that gracefully passes gameplay elements back and forth, creating a dynamic yet cohesive experience. While it starts out with a little Sling-like action, it ends up playing more like Ogre Battle, all without adding too much complexity or foregoing its casual roots. To top it off, SQUIDS looks as good as it plays, featuring top-notch visual design and a storyline and characters that are legitimately fun to engage with!

Choose your heroes and strategize your way through level after level in this addicting turn-based strategy game by Retro64. Available as a browser game or iOS download, Rune Raiders will have you hooked right away. Each hero has different abilities, which makes it easy to find the combo that suits your play style. Whether you favor the ninja or the pun tree, make your choice wisely and plan your attack to overcome evil monsters. Defeat the Dark Master, save the kingdom, then celebrate at the Victory Pub!

In FazeCat's everything-but-the-kitchen sink defense game, Paladog, Critterland has been invaded by zombies, witches, skeletons, and just about every evil little thing you can imagine, including television sets! It's up to you to fight them off, but are you dog enough to take them on over a whopping 120 levels, including special mini-games. Paladog is a big, cuddly, newspaper-fetching machine, that brings back the Sunday paper, but slobbers all over the funnies... and you love it anyway.

Everybody wants to rule the world, and zombies are no exception. In Brainsss, a wild sort of mobile game by Lonely Few, you get to help the zombies start their plot for world domination. Part strategy, part action, part brains, you must lead and grow your zombie horde to complete the goal for each level. Humans just don't get it. Life is so much simpler if all you need are brainsss.

Orbital Defender is a great looking planetary defense game from Addictive Zone that has been acutely tuned for ease of use on mobile devices. As a lone satellite orbiting a single planet, it's your job to keep the rock safe from asteroids, comets, UFOs, and more nefarious dangers as you orbit over and over again. You can't move, only shoot, and since firing at your planet is a very bad idea, you have to play a little game of strategy as you blast foes each time you swing by.

Do you have what it takes to be a real Hero Mage? This turn-based, tactical strategy game brings the feel of tabletop RPG combat to your mobile device or browser. Take control of a small group of heroes on their battle-ridden path to victory over darkness in the realm of Papillion. It's like a tabletop game in your pocket!

Well, would you look at that, another kingdom is in peril and you must defeat the king's power hungry son before it is too late. Nano Kingdoms puts you in charge of His Majesty's forces as you carve a path towards his evil son. Easy-to-figure out click controls make this realtime strategy defense game a nice choice for first time RTS players. The sounds are well-made, the art is wonderfully cartoonish, and the difficulty will leave you satisfied with your micro-managing skills.

Space... the final frontier. You never would have thought it was so pixelated out there though. Kairosoft takes a crack at a sci-fi simulation with its latest installment to the "Story" series of games. As some of the first intrepid humans to blast off and colonize a new planet, the actions you take help to expand your influence throughout the galaxy. The best way to influence these extraterrestrials is to attract them to your planet like its a tax-free shopping mall. Those aliens literally buy anything you can give them, especially chocolate cake and fine jewels. The aliens' spending habits, the exploration of your planet, and missions of peace to others are the best ways to help your colony prosper. You can't start a colony all by your lonesome so make sure your treat those octopians real well.

Your sacred grove is being desecrated! Evil spirits once again threaten the balance of a peaceful woods in Bloom Defenders, and it's up to your green thumb to stop them. This charming tower defense title by Juicy Beast has sprouted up out of your browser and is now available on your mobile device! Five varieties of tree-towers are at your disposal across 36 levels of simple, challenging strategy action.

Hexage, creator of Evac and Everlands, pits your human military prowess against endless alien swarm in this mobile tower defense game, Radiant Defense. Defense of your spiral reactor (which looks oddly like a stove burner) is the number one priority since it keeps out those pesky invaders from, you know, destroying all humans. Radiant Defense definitely keeps elements that you would always expect from the tower defense genre, but you remove the predetermined path and get the ability to create the path they will follow to their doom (hopefully). Lasers will fly, aliens will die, and the entire time your fingers will be nimbly working to hold off a rather comically bad invasion story unfold.

Majesty: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim from HeroCraft is a mobile port of the fantasy strategy game first published in 2000, with a sequel following almost a decade later. Fans of the original will immediately fall in love with the mobile release, and anyone new to the series will find plenty to like about this portable-friendly title!

Don't you just hate it when a bunch of brutes, nerds, bullies, and ten feet tall Greeks show up at your party unannounced? Party Crashers Tower Defense plays on that most basic fear humans have shared since the invention of chips and dip. You've only got so much food, so it's your job to defend the party from invading party crashers!

For millions of time management and simulation fans, the opening is unmistakable: a ragtag, desperate group of people fleeing the volcanic destruction of their home wash ashore on the mysterious island of Isola, a place of wonder and magic. With that prologue began one of the most popular and best-selling village sims of all time, Virtual Villagers. Now available for all iOS devices is that very first adventure, Virtual Villagers: Origins, lovingly designed by Last Day of Work.

With millions of views and subscriptions to the videos on their YouTube channel, the guys at Dude Perfect have brought the first trick shot basketball game to the mobile market in this self titled app. It brings all the fun and excitement of their ridiculos feats into your hands. It boasts not only the first of its kind gameplay for a sports title, but it is also the number one best selling app in its category! Both android and iOS device users can pick this game up, start practicing their skill shots, and show off their mad skills any time. You just be sure to leave the real, crazy trick shots to the professionals, okay?

All hands to your mobile devices! The mateys at Agile Fusion bring the fun and nostalgia of the board game Battleship to your fingertips with Battle at Sea. The game has recently come to port for NOOK and Kindle Fire tablets for those of you who want to sink ships before browsing through John Grisham novels. The set-up is simple: battle against your device or a real person in a turn-based naval competition!

Sandlot's much-loved strategic trading simulation comes to your mobile devices in this port of one of the first Tradewinds titles. Start off as the lowly captain of an itty-bitty ship as you sail around the sea, performing tasks and earning favours from governors in between buying low and selling high, and even tracking down a notorious candy-gram pirate or two. Cheeky, silly, and easy to pick up, it's not as complex as other titles but is a great way to get introduced to the series or the genre gently.

It's been years since the king has sat on the throne of Kurestal Kingdom. His heirs are no longer living, though, so to find the next leader, the king has issued a challenge. Whoever wins The King's League will challenge the king himself and emerge with a shiny new throne to call their own! The mobile version of the 2011 browser game works quite well on touch screen devices, and it still provides serious challenge while looking just as cute as a button!

When you hear the phrase "the best things come in small packages", you should mentally amend that to "the best things come in small cube packages". Cubemen is a no-bloat tower defense game that tries to do one thing and do that one thing well: strategy. Forget mini-games, artificially inflated campaigns, and storylines that make about as much sense as a koala flight attendant. Cubemen delivers pure, raw tower defense strategy, and it does it so well, you'll lose yourself each time you play.

Our little bear friend was about to take his morning stroll when some bees came along and attacked him! You soon learn of a larger plot involving an evil spreading throughout the land, infecting animals of all sizes with a dark sickness. It's your job to cure all the creatures of the forest in Everlands, a tile-based strategy game that bears some resemblance to position-based card games such as the Final Fantasy mini-game Triple Triad.

Not all games are created equal, and Carcassonne is a great example of how game makers are constantly striving for innovation. For the uninitiated, Carcassonne was originally a German board game created in 2000 where players work together to build a medieval world. This mobile adaptation is everything you could want from a portable Carcassonne, right down to the price!

Surviving in a town overrun with zombies is tough. We get that. Scavenging for food, desperately hailing survivors, and attempting to expand your territory while fighting off infected hordes can tax just about anyone's resolve. And let's not even get into drafting a constitution with the undead knocking on your door! In the iOS version of Rebuild, the captivating zombie survival strategy simulation browser game from Sarah Northway, you get to do all of those things, plus repair a broken helicopter, raid a bar, and help scientists work on secret research projects!

New to the iPad world is the tower defense game we all love to love, Kingdom Rush HD from Ironhide Games, a port of Kingdom Rush for browsers released not too long ago. The team had a bit of a problem when an unauthorized clone appeared on the iTunes App Store weeks before release. The knockoff was spotted and eventually removed (whew), leaving space for this excellent port of an already excellent game to wow and surprise gamers in the iOS device realm!

One part strategy, one part text-driven choose your own story adventure, King of Dragon Pass is exactly the game you want on your mobile device. Ported to iOS from the original PC/Mac release of 1999, this storytelling experience is rich in its own history and affords you a vast amount of control over what happens within. Wage war, explore the land, trade with your neighbors, manage your tribe, and read pages upon pages of text explicating the world you're actively participating in. It's great to see a title like this brought back for a new wave of gamers to play, and it works quite well on the iPhone platform.

Ever think about the high cost of the clothes you wear? No, not just the price you pay at the register, but the people on the other end you never see or even consider? Littleloud brings us a strategy simulation that tasks you with running a factory overseas struggling to meet demands for the most popular items. Will you be able to keep your boss happy without sacrificing the well being of your workers? Or will the need for speed and money trump health and safety?

Do you remember your high school? Are you still in high school? Have you always thought you could do better than the, like, total lamers who run the place? Now's your chance to prove it with Kairosoft's latest simulation and foray into the world of Pretend School Management. Balance the needs of your students and faculty with building improvements to your facilities, research new rooms and activities, take part in competitions, and design the academy of your dreams to ensure you rise to number one.

From Japanese developer Kairosoft, creator of Game Dev Story, comes another surprisingly deep simulation game for the mobile market. Grand Prix Story drops you in the shoes of a business owner trying to make it big in the world of grand prix racing. You manage everything from your mechanics and drivers to research, vehicle repairs, engine upgrades, and driver training regimens, all designed to vault you to the top of the leaderboards.

Virtual Villagers 5: New Believers is a brilliant addition to the genre and ramps up everything that is fun about the series. The puzzles are tougher as are the challenges, which is a good thing for those who love this series of village sims. The story has a darker, more sinister edge as you explore what the destruction and grief have done to the original inhabitants of Isola. There's much to love and recommend in this fantastic new adventure. Go explore!

It's time to travel back to Isola! Yes, that magical island paradise with the odd wildlife and mysterious ruins is back in Virtual Villagers 4: The Tree of Life, the latest installment in the Virtual Villagers casual sim series by Last Day of Work. The powerhouse of the field, the game by which all other village simulations are measured, is back to delve deeper into the secrets of the island!

Think you finally kicked your Plants vs. Zombies habit? You are so wrong. Just released on the iTunes App Store: PopCap's crazy-awesome casual defense game Plants vs. Zombies. It's got all the cherry bombing, squash pounding, sunflower sprouting, zombie dispatching wildness of the original PC/Mac download, now in the palms of your hands.

Our 3rd Casual Gameplay Design Competition received a ton of great submissions from a number of talented game designers. Taking first place in that competition was Wouter Visser's Gimme Friction Baby, a strikingly simple arcade-style game of skill involving a moving turret and expanding orbs. Now, just over two years later, Bitforge has come and updated the game for iPhone and iPod Touch users. Orbital is the new incarnation of Gimme Friction Baby, adding some slick visuals, tweaking the physics a bit, and adding a new gameplay mode along with multiplayer support!

We are grateful to James Prucey for this marvel of a game; With its mix of luck and strategy, it's never quite the same; Though it used to need an iPhone, now we all can praise its name; Oh Lock 'n' Roll, ROCK ON!

Virtual Villagers is back, and we're so excited we couldn't wait until the weekend to tell you! With Virtual Villagers 3: The Secret City, the surprisingly addictive real-time simulation game sticks with its proven formula and makes a few minor tweaks to freshen up gameplay. With new secrets to uncover, new technologies, real-time weather effects and a whole new island to explore, Virtual Villagers 3 has all the ingredients that made the first games so compelling, plus more.

Matt Hammill's Gesundheit! is a beautifully hand-drawn, action puzzle game with a soothing toy-instrument soundtrack (you'll need it) and adorable sound effects. You play an allergic pig chafing under the invasion of hungry monsters from the mountains.The monsters can hear your footsteps, and if they see you, they'll eat you. But you have a secret weapon - your yummy snot!

Matt Hammill's Gesundheit! is a beautifully hand-drawn, action puzzle game with a soothing toy-instrument soundtrack (you'll need it) and adorable sound effects. You play an allergic pig chafing under the invasion of hungry monsters from the mountains.The monsters can hear your footsteps, and if they see you, they'll eat you. But you have a secret weapon - your yummy snot!

It's here! The next chapter in the captivating virtual island village sim is available to download. The follow-up to the monumentally successful Virtual Villagers game keeps the same formula as the original but adds all new puzzles, events, collectibles and more. It's the perfect follow-up to one of the most amazing casual games ever released.