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!
From long-time casual game creator Terry Paton, Waste is a simple but highly-polished puzzle game featuring every child's two favorite things: monsters and goopy green sewage! The undeniably cute release combines quick-action puzzle solving along with a little bit of old fashioned error-driven pressure, forcing you to make snap decisions that are not only efficient, but economical, too. It's an easy game to pick up and play, no matter what mood you're in or how long your "coffee break" happens to be!
An up-and-coming young housefly has a simple wish; He wants to make it to the big city and become the greatest stunt rider that Bugopolis has ever seen. To impress the masses with your skills, you have to drive through multiple trick-tastic levels, collect star balloons, and get money for your trip. There are plenty of other insects along the way to aid Buzz in his quest for glory and they want to show their stuff off to the world. Whether you are looking for a quick physics distraction or an addicting stunt racer, Stunt Bug has got you covered.
Explore deeply layered fantasy landscapes, encounter boss battles and intriguing characters, discover treasure chests and secret coves, upgrade armor and weapons, level up and and everything else you'd want to find in an epic RPG platforming adventure. The on screen controls make your journey all the more enjoyable for a classic gaming feel. Any nostalgic cravings you had for your favorite games of old will be satisfied as you are the hero and your quest is great. Keep that sword handy and your magic prepped; who knows what danger lurks beyond those gates? You'll soon find out!
A Long Way Home is an arcade physics puzzle game from Jonathan Mulcahy. Stranded 100 light years from Earth, you play an astronaut whose only companion is a wrist-mounted computer who offers bits of advice. Using a sharp eye and impeccable timing, trot around asteroids and planets and jump from their surface across the screen, the goal being to collect dark matter so you can open successive worm holes that get you closer to home. Along the way, you'll encounter exploding asteroids, comets, teleporting dark matter, and more. Not exactly a leisurely walk in space.
Oh no! The king of the realm needs you to save the princess from the evil clutches of the Dark Knight! Go figure, right? Wind-up Knight is a mobile run and jump adventure very similar to Canabalt HD except you get a fancy sword and armor to fight enemies while dodging traps to make your way to the princess. Convenient items in adventuring, yes, but it won't save you when the Dark Knight starts getting really serious about stopping you. A knight's mettle will never be more tested and neither shall your timing skills as pits, enemies, and environmental dangers stand in your way.
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.
Looking for a logic puzzle game that is tested and designed with cognitive physiology research AND is still fun to play? The boys over at Handy Games in Germany bring you infeCCt, a nice casual undertaking that gets you covering tiles with vines. The game will bend your mind to its limits with tons of impressively designed levels, extra obstacles and tiles for an added challenge, and online scoring system to compare your problem solving skills with others.
FlipPix Art is a series of picross logic puzzles created by GabySoft for mobile markets, including Android tablets, iPad, and NOOK Color/Tablet. The games are designed for ease of use while on the go, employing a rather unusual control mechanism that, surprisingly, makes mobile picross easier and less error-prone. On top of that, each of the games in the series features a different visual theme along with a large number of puzzles, making it one of the best ways to get a picross fix while on the go.
Though it's a scary (if distant) thought in real life, being stranded on an island where you have to fight for survival isn't high on anyone's to-do list. Place it in a casual game, though, and we're tripping over ourselves to start the download. Sahmon Games' simulation series The Island: Castaway has been perplexing players for a few years now with its superb blend of quest-based item hunting and character managing, spawning The Island: Castaway 2 not long after the original was released. Now there's the mobile version of The Island: Castaway, and it manages to bring every pixel of entertainment from its PC cousins to the portable touch screen. Be prepared for the addiction to begin all over again!
When a vast series of subterranean pipes appears beneath Bikini Bottom, it's SpongeBob and crew to the rescue!... sort of! After a blinding flash of light, all our sea-dwelling swashbucklers have turned to marbles, and they need your help drawing paths to safety and helping them to manipulate switches and other machinery. Who's behind this fiendish development? Play this gorgeous mobile physics puzzler and find out!
The classic first-person shooter credited with jump-starting the genre on PC gets a re-release in HTML5! As Captain B.J., blast your way through three different missions and all the original levels of over-the-top retro action. It's cheesy, it's violent, and back in its day it was more than a little controversial, but Id Software's iconic title is responsible for siring many of the games you play today and is still as fun as ever.
We are not alone. Life has been discovered on Mars, but it's nothing like we ever expected to encounter. In this gorgeous, one-of-a-kind moody action adventure game for iOS, you'll journey deep into the red planet and uncover the secrets buried within its soil. Discover new life forms and challenging puzzles that force you to use the environment to your advantage as you help the planet grow... and ultimately decide its fate.
As a crafty little puzzle game by Two Lives Left, Cargo-Bot's premise is simple: program a robotic crane to rearrange crates so they look like the arrangement at the top of the screen. The method by which you do so is similar to our old favorite Light-Bot 2.0: drag and drop instructions on and off the four command bars on the left until you've got something good, then hit the play button at the bottom to see how she runs. The clever and brainteasing puzzles, adorably minimalistic soundtrack, and clear yet non-distracting graphics are more than worth the price of admission alone (it'd have to be, the app is free), but what really makes Cargo-Bot special is that it's the first game ever to hit the App Store that bears the distinction of having been created entirely on an iPad using Codea.
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!
As a white neon ghost creature, you guide Spirit through waves and waves of abstract style enemies. Easy to use touch movement, but difficult mastery of avoiding and capturing your foes in the next dimension. With three different modes to try out and the need to outscore yourself or gaming friends, your fingers will swiping and sliding across the screen for hours to come.
Frankenstein is a brand new work of interactive fiction written by Dave Morris and released using the inkle platform. Based on the original novel by Mary Shelley, this modern narrative weaves a captivating story that takes advantage the mobile platform to deliver a strong visual impact along with its interactive elements. You are both reader and player in this experience (though more the former than the latter), choosing directions for your character to take and shaping the narrative in ways that are both subtle and obvious. The end result is a visual and textual masterpiece that you will be both thrilled and intrigued to experience.
It was once the dream of man to fly through the sky as the birds. Now, a cat is dreaming of it too. David Ngo and Don-Doung Quach, rocket scientist turned game designer and a programmer respectively, decided to bring some of their nerdiness to the iOS marketplace in the form of an action adventure game. Cannon Cat follows the story of Meo in his quest to save all the skyfish from the clutches of Evil Emu and his flightless bird army. A determined cat has never looked so cute being fired from a cannon, and it will fly straight in to your heart, free of charge. After eight months at the scratching post, a high-flying adventure is born that 'haz mad skillz' to go with the fantastic visuals and wonderful story for all ages.
The cheese is the prize in this gloriously cartoonish and vibrant stealth mobile/tablet game from Electronic Arts. Guide a daring mouse hero through 70+ levels, drawing a path for him around his ferocious feline opponents. Contend with ghost cats and villainous constructs, outwit mouse traps, and drink in one of the most polished casual gaming experiences you could want in the process.
Azkend 2 stands out in the crowded match-3 genre through its excellent art, music and voice-acting, constantly changing challenges and tricky puzzles requiring custom approaches. Follow the main character on a journey into a maelstrom and back. With 60+ levels in story mode and tons of replay value, it's a lot of bang for the buck.
In this mobile puzzle game by 10Tons, Peablins are afraid to go into the dark, monster-filled forest alone but if they're holding hands with a friend, then all is good. Help them make their way through180 stages by arranging each on the grid according to their quirky preferences. While the touch controls are easy to master, the puzzles can sometimes leave you stumped. Joining Hands is the perfect diversion wherever you find yourself empty-handed and in need of some fun.
One of the early hits on the iTunes App Store and a strong leader in Android game sales, the Doodle Jump games quickly turned into the definition of a successful mobile game. As of the end of 2011, over 15 million copies of the arcade game have been sold across various marketplaces, and it has remained one of the best-selling iOS games since its launch. With such a simple premise and creative visuals, it's no wonder Doodle Jump has gained such enormous popularity. Now, with mobile markets still growing, Doodle Jump's various incarnations have spread to include NOOK and Kindle Fire!
It was supposed to be a quick and easy heist. Break in to the museum, snag the Lupine Twine Amulet, sneak out. Profit! But then, something unfortunate happened: Lucas MacGuffin put the amulet on. With the amulet permanently attached to him, Lucas now had the unfortunate ability to turn into a werewolf whenever he was exposed to moonlight. On top of that, the entire city went into lockdown as a result of his bungled theft. Making delicious lemonade out of those lemons, though, Lucas turned his misfortune into a boon, using his lupine skills to work his way through town in a sokoban-style adventure. MacGuffin's Curse is one of those light-hearted, funny, challenging and visually gorgeous games you won't be able to put down.
The kingdom is under attack!... not that Questy cares, of course. At least... not until his funds run out and he can't keep himself in the fat and complacent lifestyle he's become accustomed to. In this gorgeous upgrade of Sean Gailey's quirky, colourful fantasy puzzler, place loot bags and other helpful items to guide Our Hero Questy away from hazards and through mazes to ultimately defeat the evil wizard Boneyard.
Bitter Sam is... well, bitter, and justifiably so. His grades are failing, he was stood up at the altar, he still lives with his mother, and now some mad scientist has kidnapped him and is lowering him down some sort of hole through the levels underneath his lab. Sam's only lifeline to the surface a thin thread that is easily snapped, forcing him to dodge dangerous obstacles as he drops deeper into the Earth. Thus is the premise of Bitter Sam, an amusing physics drop/avoidance tilt puzzler from Moon Active, which charts poor Sam's progress as he falls farther away from the sunny skies above.
Have you ever watched an Indiana Jones movie and thought "I could totally do all of that stuff. Easy!"? Well, thanks to Imangi Studios, creators of Temple Run, you can give it a shot! Just don't expect hundreds of thousands of adulating fans, actual fortunes gained, or a fine battle-worn fedora to suddenly appear on your melon.
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.
Sometimes the best things in life are simple. Nintaii is one of those things. Similar to the mobile game Brain Cube and the browser game Bloxorz, you control a block on a maze-like stage and must guide it to the exit hole by tipping it end over end. We say "guide", but really we mean "plot a complex path through a nigh-impossible obstacle course"!
As gas prices continue to rise, preserving fuel is an issue that's on almost everyone's mind. In response, YoAmbulante has created Traffic Wonder, a game built around the concept of finding the most efficient routes possible to save that precious flammable liquid we all depend on!
An interesting combination of 2D and 3D, Rinth Island takes classic sokoban block-pushing, switch-throwing fun, throws in some tropical twists, and shakes it up to make an iOS game that's as refreshing as a hurricane (the cocktail, that is). With 60 adventure levels, 3 more modes for each level, and an in-game level editor and user-created levels, it's a lot of puzzle for the price.
Grooh is happygrr! Grooh is also the star of the lovely puzzle adventure Grooh, a tile-based isometric puzzle game that's all about destroying the very floor you walk on. Not only does it provide an ample number of challenging levels to complete, it looks and sounds like a cheery cartoon show, which will make you even more inclined to play it through to the end!
Guide a laying hen around her running eggs until there's enough of them to set off a chain reaction hatching explosion! If that idea doesn't brighten your mood by itself, we'll sweeten the deal by telling you it features zany kazoo music and the cheerful art of master developer Orisinal. Now you're ready to get cracking!
If you always liked playing Pictionary as a board game with friends, now you can doodle away mobile style with Draw Something. A game very similar to Charadium or XSketch, OMGPOP brings players a socially addicting Pictionary-style game to both iOS and Android platforms. The game has even become so popular that it could possibly spawn a TV show!
Puzzle games are good brain food, and this recent addition to the iPhone library is no exception. The first mobile app from EatonLabs Ltd., PixBlock, reincarnates a well-known kind of logic puzzle that puts your pixel painting logic to the test. It's picross, folks, and it's a stylish and simple implementation that makes playing as easy as scribbling on a piece of paper.
Well, do ya? Because if you don't, you might as well just give up now, this game is too much for you. In fact, give up writing and talking altogether. Why bother, right? Kinda hard not to accept a challenge as brazen as the one brought forth in the title of So You Think You Know Words. Fortunately, the mobile word game doesn't skimp in the content department, allowing you to spend hours on end proving that you do, indeed, know words.
IncrediBlox is a falling blocks-style puzzle game that uses careful color matching to craft a smart little mobile release. The black IncrediBlox are turning everything to shadow, but you can stop them with a little creative maneuvering of the red, blue, and green blocks that fall from the sky. Your goal is to match up groups of four squares, creating combos whenever possible to score massive points and keep the screen clear. It's all very simple at first, but then, the actual incrediblox start to appear and real strategy sets in!
Something of an unusual, one-shot kind of game, ChessCards combines playing cards with chess rules, creating a puzzle experience that takes some time to wrap your brain around. You start with a massive field of playing cards, each laying face up and waiting to be moved. Your goal is arrange it so that each suit is on its own row. The catch is that cards can only be moved according to their assigned chess piece patterns!
Golf and cards rarely seem like a fitting pair, but when you see them combined as elegantly as in Fairway Solitaire, you'll start to wonder if other crazy sorts of combinations might work. Like peanuts and pickles! A new mobile port of the previously reviewed PC and Mac release, Fairway Solitaire builds on the game of solitaire using golf terms and rules in a very casual sort of way. Add to that an epic story about gopher revenge, mini-games, an in-game store, and hundreds of courses to play, and you've got a card game that'll keep you busy until the gophers come home. That's a saying, right?
If you're the kind of person who spent many hours playing Pac-Man, then Evac is for you. You play as a square, attempting to escape from a maze-like prison. In order to unlock the door at the end of each level, you must collect all of the multi-colored dots. This isn't an easy task, however, as red squares will attempt to capture you. Luckily, you're not left defenseless. Many different power ups exist, such as the ability to turn invisible or the ability to shock your pursuers.
Games Featured:
- • Pizza vs. Skeletons
- • Cavorite 2
- • Ziggurat
- • Zombie Panic in Wonderland Plus
It seems like everybody's obsessed with some sort of undead creatures nowadays. Zombies, vampires, skeletons, republicans... They're popping up all over the place, and game makers are taking advantage of this left and right! Cases in point: most of the games below!
Sleepy Jack is the tale of a young boy's dreams told via a graphically-lush arcade shooter. You play as Jack himself as he races through various landscapes, battling enemies in order to achieve the goal of getting a good night's rest. Throughout the levels you must collect "Zs", which ensure that you get a restful sleep. If your Z meter runs low, you wake up and lose the level!
As far as puzzle games go, the simpler and the more mind-bending, the better. Quell takes that idea a step further and adds a shining, stylish visual package to the mix, encouraging you to keep playing not just because you're hopelessly addicted, but because you honestly enjoy staring at your mobile device.
Eating food is fun. Making food is fun. Growing food is work, but it's fun. Buying food can even be fun. But what part of obtaining noms is the least entertaining? Bagging your groceries. (We would have also accepted "paying for food".) With Bag It!, a game we originally mentioned when it was released for iOS, stuffing packaged foods into a paper bag finally has some reward to it. You still have to be careful, though, because crushed eggs in a mobile game are even more disappointing than in real life!
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!
Games Featured:
- • Tobe & Friends Hookshot Escape
- • Lume
- • AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! (Force = Mass x Acceleration)
When you think of a "mobile" game, you probably think of a stripped-down, broken version of what could have been a big and meaty game for a PC or console system, right? Well, this week's selection of games aims to prove you wrong. Three titles that migrated from larger platforms but gained content in the process. Is that some sort of magic?!
Captain Skyro is a classic "pull back and fling" game similar to the old browser series Sling, only instead of tossing around squishy gross things, now you get to control a pirate! Grappling up through the clouds, you'll encounter cargo holds full of crazy obstacles, clouds that you'll swear are out to get you, and score-based gameplay that will inspire you to go back and play again, just so you can nab that last coin!
Games Featured:
- • Retro Racing
- • Little Acorns
- • A Clockwork Brain
Get your acorns in a row, it's time to settle down and partake in some mobile en-ter-tain-ment with the smell of burning tires in the air and a shower of clockwork machines for all to enjoy!
No one ever said being a bandit was easy. Especially not a righteous Beat Sneak Bandit! This impressively creative game from Simogo (Bumpy Road, Kosmo Spin) combines the most basic musical elements with a visually sparse but stunning art style. The gameplay is different from just about every other iOS game out there, and you'll absolutely fall in love with it from the very first level!
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!
Games Featured:
- • Blot
- • The Tiny Bang Story
- • Jump Out!
- • Paper Monsters
Things can get messy when you're a ball of ink. Or when you're a bug that can only live while riding on a turning gear! Those guys should switch places. An insect could do great things flying through a world of pencils, and why would ink care if it fell from a piece of machinery?
You're dead. But where normally that might mean Game Over, in this port of Capcom's gloriously quirky, surreal and imaginative puzzle adventure, it's only the beginning. As one very special newly dead soul, you have the ability to jump from object to object and change the course of someone's fate, hopping back in time four minutes before they died. Use your abilities to save their lives if you can figure out how to manipulate your environment, but don't dilly-dally; the clock is always ticking, and something big is going on tonight in this strange town. To say nothing of what'll happen to you when the sun comes up the next morning. You've got one night to make a difference and find out the truth... make the most of it.
Games Featured:
- • Off the Leash
- • Jigsaw Mansion 2
- • Boy Loves Girl
Here's a puzzle for you to piece together: how can you help a pack of dogs evade the cops while getting the attention of a girl who won't pay you any mind even though you've got the moon on a string? PROTIP: You'll need two iOS devices to pull that simultaneous feat off!
Slice, grate, carve and fry your way to the top of the culinary food chain with the wave of a finger in this time management-heavy cooking sim app that's so addictive, it has to contain MSG. Once you know the basics, there's an easy pick-up-and-play style that will compel you to sneak a few days' work in between classes, during lunch breaks, before bed, whenever.
Help our spunky, white-smiled heroine repair her great great grandfather's time machine to escape the creepy alien beings that are pursuing her—and threatening our very existence! Full of corny plot devices and lots of cheese, this part point-and-click adventure, part escape-the-room game is best played with tongue-in-cheek and a tolerance for rather clunky inventory controls. That said, if you feel your inner Marty McFly/Nancy Drew/Fox Mulder clamoring to get out, Adventures of Veronica Wright: Escape from the Present is exactly the game to do it.
What a world we live in, where mankind can walk on the moon, salad can be purchased in cups, and falling block puzzles can be fused with word games. If you're ready for your brain to have a little run through the multitasking wringer, Puzzlejuice is without a doubt the best way to hurt your synapses. With a little Tetris-like block arranging and a little Spelltower-style word building, you, too, can drive yourself mad with delight!
Games Featured:
- • Mysterious Castle
- • Seal Force
- • Secret of Mana
Scene opens in the forest. A mysterious castle looms in the background. Hobbling in from the side, a group of three seals carrying machinery on their backs. They know what the secret of mana is, but they're not telling. They're not telling... indeed!
e slow paced but challenging iOS title from Highline Games has a sharp focus that sticks firmly to word crafting. No weirdo bonus mini-games, clowns, hidden objects or other gimmicks, just long levels of wrapping your brain around a grid of letters. Oh, and just so you know, W.E.L.D.E.R. stands for Word Examination Laboratory for Dynamic Extraction and Reassessment. Aren't you glad you were curious?!
Games Featured:
- • Bar Oasis
- • Realistic Summer Sports Simulator
- • Ladders to Heaven
Sports and ladders! Snakes and beer! Can you imagine a combination of things more exciting than that? More exciting combinations that do not involve sharks, bears, dinosaurs, or anything capable of fusion, that is.
Hey, Super Crate Box, the awesome arcade and shooting game released by Vlambeer way back in 2010. What are you doing on the iTunes App Store? What's that? Being as awesome as the PC/Mac downloadable version? Sounds great! With handfuls of unlockables, perfectly-tweaked touch controls, and a constant worldwide tally of crates collected, you'll be short on excuses not to play this lovely, crazy little game.
Games Featured:
- • Azaroshi
- • Piyomori
- • CheeseMan
It's an iPhone/iPod Touch special on this edition of Mobile Monday! Who needs those big iPad screens when a cozy, portable device can hold the same amount of fun? Of course, if you do happen to own an iPad, you can still play everything below, but it's sort of cheating, wouldn't you agree? Nah, who cares!
Originally released as a WiiWare download back in 2008, LostWinds has finally wafted its way to the iOS device world, bringing with it the same shining visuals, imaginative gameplay, and creative use of physics, all told through the wide eyes of a young boy. LostWinds combines traditional platforming elements with a touch of wind manipulation, giving you control over more than just the main character as you explore the lush world before you!
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!
Games Featured:
- • Time Ducks
- • Winter Walk
- • MinioMonsters
Well, it's the final Mobile Monday of the year. It's times like this we like to take pause and think happy thoughts about all of the mobile games of the past months. We wonder things like "how many were developed by people wearing hats?" and "do you think at least one of these game's names is a palindrome?". Questions without answers, so we just nod our hatless heads and prepare ourselves for another year.
The chugging little car is back! Windosill, a 2009 release from Vector Park, creator of Acrobots, Levers, and Feed the Head, has wormed its way to the iPad, bringing with it all the dream-like levels of the original browser game. Windosill remains one of the most charming experiences any casual player could hope to stumble upon, and it's a perfect fit for the iPad and a great mobile game as well!
RPGs and pretty physics games and... SONIC! So much to consume on this edition of Mobile Monday. So much. Sooooo much. Hmm. Maybe too much? Yeah, a bit. Maybe just pretend these three games are two games, one of which has an unusual growth on the side that looks, acts, and plays like a different game? That's not too much to handle is it?
Infinity Blade 2 is the reason your iOS device exists (other than all of that non-gaming stuff, of course). It's the deep, compelling, great-looking release that melds the casual and the mainstream gaming ideals together. It seamlessly incorporates a strong fantasy story with role playing elements, upgrades, exploration, and even a hint of hidden objects along with fast-reflexes action that will make you sit up straight to play.
Games Featured:
- • Sprinkle Jr.
- • Egg Punch
- • Sea Stars
- • Horror Vacui 2
Cute games seem to be the "in" thing to do for iOS releases. Why feature an ugly cockroach as a main character when you can sketch out an adorable dolphin with rainbow eyes instead? Most of our games this week are frosted in that sugary cuteness, so you might want abstain from riding on your unicorn for a few hours, just so you don't overdose on adorableness!
Games Featured:
- • The King's Path
- • Catball Eats it All
- • Mr.Oops!!
- • Judge Dredd vs. Zombies
If you're looking for a few wild distractions, allow us to point to your left, where you'll see a tricycle riding a bear eating a hotdog. The bear isn't eating the hotdog, the tricycle is. And it's covered in mustard. The bear, not the hotdog. Also, four unique mobile games representing four different genres, each capable of stealing hours of your life away!
If you've spent any time around the indie gaming scene, you're familiar with the name increpare, also known as Stephen Lavelle. Known for creating short, small, creative and artistic-type games, increpare has jumped from the realm of experimental games to the world of full-fledged releases, unleashing the fantastic English Country Tune for the world to scratch their collective heads over. The game looks fantastic and plays like several of your favorite logic puzzle games rolled into one superb, pseudo-3D package.
From the creator of Unify, BitPilot, and Halcyon, Zach Gage, comes an iPad release that blends a Boggle-like word game with a traditional falling blocks puzzle. SpellTower is a wordophile's dream come true, featuring four unique modes of play that let you take your time and think or force you to build words in a rush. No matter your playing style, there's plenty of challenge in this sleek little release, and it's worth picking up if you have even the slightest interest in word games!
Games Featured:
- • Paul & Percy
- • Bag It!
- • Saving Yellow
Need a pick-me-up to start the week? Why not try saving a goldfish from an impish little brat? Going on a quest for biscuits? Or, heck, bag some groceries!
ZONR, from the master if bite-sized iOS games Klick Tock, will engage you for longer than you'll care to admit. The simple reflex game is focused on quick recognition skills, challenging you to act fast, act decisively, and recover from your mistakes without hesitation. Stressful? Never! More fun than it ought to be? You bet!
Games Featured:
- • Snoopy's Street Fair
- • Chickon
- • Minecraft: Pocket Edition
Still not sure iOS devices are a serious gaming platform? Game designers sure think they are, and the result is more and more big games making their way to the touch screen. Minecraft is a fine example of this, and this week, it's making its iOS debut with a highly playable portable version of the desktop game!
Girl with a Heart of is a sidescrolling adventure game that plays like an interactive, art-filled story. Making choices during conversations serves as the meat of the game, and what information you bring out and discuss with characters not only shapes the knowledge you take away, but it also affects future conversations. The characters, storyline, and backstory are all richly detailed and create a provocative dystopian science fiction setting, one that you'll happily dive into with each and every scrap of conversation.
Shantae: Risky's Revenge is the sort of game retro-minded players will immediately snatch up. Modern players may look at it and think "another platform game?", but as soon as any human being plays it, it's easy tell that Shantae is anything but ordinary. Risky's Revenge is an action/platform game that's smartly focused on exploration in the style of a good old-fashioned metroidvania. It's a labor of love that's funny, challenging, creative, and absolutely gorgeous down to the last pretty pixel!
Nintendo DS owners most likely recognize the name, but for everyone else, the Scribblenauts series is a relatively unknown treasure. That all changes with the release of Scribblenauts Remix, an iOS version of the phenomenal creativity puzzle game from 5th Cell. The tagline "Write anything. Solve Everything." couldn't be more appropriate, as Scribblenauts challenges you to solve puzzles by typing in words and phrases. If you can imagine it, you can probably do it, so feel free to summon a huge invincible flying pregnant angry rainbow giraffe to fight with Zeus, if you like.
You find yourself on the floor of a dilapidated hospital, apparently situated in the middle of a meadow filled with the drone of cicadas. Monsters roam the halls, and the only other human occupant babbles about a witch who's trapped you both there, but as you piece together the truth from papers and journals, you'll begin to wonder who you can really trust... if you can even trust yourself. An action-heavy adventure title from Phosphor Games for your iOS made with the Unreal Engine, boasting great writing, beautiful visuals, and a lot of mystery.
Alligators aren't usually known for being picky about their personal hygiene. Swampy, the smiling 'gator who lives deep in the sewers, is quite a bit different. While the rest of the alligators are tearing up everything in the sewers, Swampy is getting ready to take a bath. It seems his shower isn't quite working, though, so you'll have to suss out the source of the problem. In Where's My Water?, a smartly-built physics-based puzzle game from Disney Mobile, its your job to cut holes in the soil to direct the water down to Swampy's tub. And with things like movable walls, puddles of acid, and lively bits of mold, that's much easier said than done.
It's super space puzzle action! In space! And, you get to be a delivery boy! In space! How could life get any more exciting than that? How about pirates, a snarky robot companion, a boss with an attitude to match his mustache, black holes, portals, and bombs? There, that should do it. The comedy-laden puzzle game Galaxy Express for iOS devices is all about twisting your brain while making you laugh, and it does so while looking spectacular!
Games Featured:
- • GoatUp
- • A Space Shooter for Free
- • Globulos
- • Riot Rings
Wacky, serious, filled with animals, containing goat kisses, and populated by sentient glops of furry... whatever. It's not a Mobile Monday if you don't reach for the disinfectant spray!
The Last Rocket, from Shaun Inman, looks and sounds like it belongs on the top shelf of your Game Boy Color library. It plays like a puzzle-oriented version of VVVVVV, high level of difficulty and retro presentation included. It's the sort of game that will challenge you to make precise movements, quick decisions, and flawless maneuvers, and if you fail, you die and have to start the level all over again. But hey, you don't get to be the big hero without crashing into spikes a few dozen times, do you?
From Halfbrick Studios comes a cave flying-style game with the power to keep you playing for many multiple hours. Jetpack Joyride takes the best from jump-and-run-style games and mixes in a host of achievements, missions, store upgrades, vehicles and more, crafting a game that looks phenomenal and will keep you doing "just one more joyride" dozens of times in a row.
Scattered across the land, the adorable little mokis are in trouble. But guess what? You get to rescue them! Using bombs! iBlast Moki 2 is Godzilab's follow up to the epic iOS physics puzzle game iBlast Mokie, and it stuffs every ounce of material you could want into a single robust mobile package. Time to (safely) bomb some mokis!
More pachinko, anyone? Kickin' Momma is the latest from Hothead Games, the team that is perhaps most famous for creating the Penny Arcade adventure episodes beginning with On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness. Now, though, the studio is focusing some efforts on the iOS market, creating a crazy sort of game that's very similar to Peggle.
Games Featured:
- • Groove Coaster
- • Gesundheit!
- • Dice Soccer
- • Iconocraft
True fact: this edition of Mobile Monday was written almost two hours later than originally planned. Why? Because the games below occupied more of my time than I had ever anticipated. Seriously, mobile game developers, why are you doing such cool things these days?!
FBI Agent Nelson Tethers works for the Department of Puzzle Research... yes, that's a thing, and he's quite happy with his job, until the day he's assigned to Scoggins, Minnesota, to find out why the local eraser factory has stopped working. What starts out as a simple missing persons case takes a drastic turn for the bizarre, and soon Nelson finds himself wrapped up in the weirdest, creepiest small town mystery he's ever seen. Take a trip to Scoggins in this clever duo of point-and-click adventure game that doesn't skip on the charm, the creeps, or the chuckles.
Those of us adept at folding space-time (with or without the use of spice) are very familiar with the concept of moving chunks of the universe around so we can easily step from one area to another. For everyone else, there's Continuity 2: The Continuation, a sequel to the familiar Flash puzzle game Continuity. Combining a little bit of 2D platforming and a lot of sliding puzzle logic, Continuity 2 is a unique and challenging experience made better by the battery of almost 50 new levels packed into the iPhone's tiny little screen. It's all the space-time folding you could ever want, without the blue-in-blue eyes to show for it!
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.
Happy peasants harvesting grass. Peaceful people admiring the clouds. Then the bad guys come along and start sieging and such. You don't need much of a story when it comes to physics-based chain reaction games, but in the case of Siege Hero, from the creator of Sieger, you definitely need to know you're the one fighting on the side of good! This highly-polished iOS game features gameplay similar to Castle Crashers, Angry Birds, and even Implode!, although the sum of its well-made parts adds up to something much more intriguing.
Ready for a rhythm game that will make you feel like a musical mastermind while potentially sending your synapses into a frenzy? Pulse: Volume One has that power, and this iPad-exclusive from Cipher Prime, creator of Fractal and Auditorium, has both the visual package and musical variety to lull you into a brilliant trance of dot tapping and circle watching.
Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery is, in one sentence, a gorgeous piece of playable, explorable art with a phenomenal soundtrack and overall design that begs to be experienced. We'll call it a point-and-click adventure (a touch and touch again adventure?), but really Sword & Sworcery is all about satisfying your curiosity in a visually striking world and doing one-on-one battles with a few discontented beings. It's a game so stepped in atmosphere and setting you'll feel like it's as epic as The Lord of the Rings, all compactified into your mobile device.
Flaws, the interactive work of fiction from author Jon Ingold, is a difficult game to categorize as well as a different game to review. For starters, it isn't really a game in the traditional sense, more like a choose your own adventure produced for modern, Kindle-enabled devices. Then there's the nature of the story, where discussing even a few of the details can spoil whole bits of the experience. Suffice it to say, Flaws is an intriguing interactive fiction "game" about finding treasure and fame, the Andromeda galaxy, a mysterious diadem, and a possible assassination.
Games Featured:
- • Word Geek
- • Halcyon
- • Slice HD
- • BallFallDown
- • Panopticon
With the release of a brand new iPad 2, we thought we should celebrate with a collection of some of the platform's best exclusive games! What better way to break in that Apple A5 processor (or even the original Apple A4 processor!) than with a couple of big, gorgeous casual games? Look for more iPhone or Android games next week!
Games Featured:
- • Osmos
- • World of Goo
- • Corpse Craft
- • Drawn: The Painted Tower HD
Are you one of the estimated 6 million new iPad owners this holiday season? Or was it just new socks and a cheesy sweater this year? We've been keeping up with the gaming scene on Apple's really big touch screen device, and we're pleased to report there are several great reasons to part with some cash in exchange for a great gaming experience.