Mobile

It's the winter of 1972. In Rusty Lake's latest instalment of the disturbing Cube Escape series, the protagonist rows across the lake to a strange cave full of weird and wonderful goodies, including a dog (how long has it been in there?) and an unfortunate diver who needs your help.

Fans of the series will recognise Rusty Lake's signature surrealist style and weird creepiness in this latest game. After entering the cave, use the mouse to explore your surroundings and collect items to help you escape. The puzzles are a mix of utilising items and mini-game style puzzles, which keeps things interesting. There are a few gruesome moments, so be prepared for that if you are a little squeamish.

In Realm Grinder, you're the ruler of a kingdom, and you can choose to align yourself with the forces of good, or the forces of evil. As you click, you accumulate gold and faction coins. Your accumulation of faction coins lets you align with Fairy, Angel, or Elf factions while aligned with the forces of good, or Goblin, Undead, or Demon while aligned with evil. Your choice of alignments also chooses which types of buildings you are able to build.

Where is Cat this time? In this charming little puzzle game from Bart Bonte, Cat has a craving for authentic Japanese sushi that simply can't be satiated through a trip to his local Sushi Train. He needs the real deal! Cat decides to takes a trip to Japan in search of 20 delicious pieces of his favourite Asian delicacy, but he needs your help to find and eat them all. (He probably needs less help with the eating part than the finding part).

Today, we are going for a stroll back in time. Cast your mind back 12 years (yes, it's been 12 years) to 2005. What do you remember from this momentous year? Perhaps you recall the opening of Hong Kong Disneyland, or maybe you are still thankful for the launch of video giant Youtube. Star Wars: Episode III and Batman Begins were both released, as was the sixth instalment of the Harry Potter book series. In amongst all of these worldwide hits, Robin Allen quietly dropped a ton of stick-figure dismemberment on us in his hit Flash game, Hapland. We can still hear the faint sounds of frustrated players hitting their foreheads on their keyboards as their 137th attempt to successfully finish the game crashes and burns before their eyes.

Heed us, readers! Our words are backed with CUTE VOXEL GRAPHICS and SOOTHING BLIPPY CHIPTUNES! [We've found that's much easier on the floors around here than nuclear weapons.] Midjiwan reinvigorates Sid Meier's Civilization-like turn-based strategy and resource management gameplay for Android and iOS and gives it a sleek mobile interface, voxelized graphics, a refreshing chiptune soundtrack and chibikkoi cast of adorably tiny characters. Games usually last thirty turns in Perfection mode, but the option for Domination mode will let you keep playing long enough to become the undisputed ruler of the realm — or to research all the techs and build all the turf improvements until you're satisfied with your infrastructure or score. Polytopia even comes with a 'Pass & Play' mode that lets you play multiplayer with your friends locally until you don't have any left!

Android developer Yiotro shows us that the best things in life are not only free, they're also buttery-smooth and more than a little offbeat with Achikaps, a minimalist economics simulation with defense elements that fans of rymdkapsel will find eerily familiar. Achikaps has you building production nodes, managing workers and occasionally fending off timed waves of aerial invaders, but has less to do with placing tetrominoes and much more of managing supply and production processes [getting enough raw materials acquired and processed in various player-built facilities to become things you actually need] and defense [amassing enough workers to man the defense stations and successfully fend off the waves of invaders that show up on some levels]. Each of the fifty levels have completion requirements necessary to advance, and the paid version has three times that, along with a level editor and unlimited slots for savegames. Achikaps' slimmed-down look reminds us that content is king, and makes for smooth play even on older Android models — even the nifty two-finger rescaling feature.

It has been said that everything in life is a matter of perspective; that everything is a matter of
viewpoint. Well, in the new game by Bryce Summer, Viewpoint - A Game of Perspective, viewpoint is the main thing that matters. What does that mean, and how changing my viewpoint can help me beat levels in a platform game? That's a good question. Stay tuned.

Sometimes you just need to get some time away from it all, and this soothing crafting role-playing game by Chibig is just the thing. One part Harvest Moon, one part The Little Prince, Deiland features a young prince who is the sole inhabitant of Deiland the Tiny, smallest of the outlying minor planets. Fortunately the land is great for mining, farming and lumber, enabling you to craft tools and buildings and upgrade them with improvements, cook, catch fish, learn recipes and craft them either for yourself or for the traders who occasionally stop by from time to time. Mun is a brave hunter of bugs who will often have just the right items you need, Lock is a kindly old man with plenty of potions and mixtures and an interest in any herbs or produce you happen to have, and Brram is an interstellar chef who buys and sells culinary masterpieces. While slightly briefer than most games in the genre, with its tranquil music and positive attitude Deiland is uncomplicated and interesting enough for young people while involved enough to keep adults interested. There's always something to do, and it's also just the thing for keeping the hands and eyes busy if you're the type to listen to lectures, radio plays or audiobooks in the background. When you do finish Deiland in about a week, be sure to check out its free sequel Ankora for Android and iOS, which is more advanced and features Mun the huntress crash landed on a much larger farmable planet.

If Kairosoft ever made a version of Gilligan's Island it would look a lot like Tinker Island, the free survival crafting role-playing game from Tricky Totem with in-app purchases. When you and your intrepid crew are stranded on a tropical island you'll have to use all your skills to survive, try to get back home, and solve the mystery of just what's going on here in the process. Gather resources, build and upgrade buildings, stave off hunger, craft tools and buffing items, fend off the local wildlife, improve your party's skills and solve puzzles and logic problems, all while advancing the plot with choose-your-own-adventure format multiple-guess choices that meaningfully affect how the each game will take shape.

The two neighboring kingdoms are on the brink of war and one little frog has found himself stuck in the middle of all of it. However, Kerohiro isn't alone in this battle and with the help of his friends he might be able to save both kingdoms from starting a pointless fight. Kerhiro is ready with his sword held high, but his banner higher. Kerohiro the Flag Bearer by LekChan is a RPG mobile game with a very different fighting style. Your heroes are lined up in a row being led by your direction, which is one by swiping up, down, left, or right. This "snake" of heroes will attack the enemies lines which are also going around the board. Be careful though as enemies will fight back and can be a little unpredictable as they charge around. Every kill you have a chance to get gold or health as well as building up your morale. Higher morale means more damage and when your morale bar is full the leader of your troops will do a special attack. Finish off all enemy units and advance to your next quest. With plenty of upgrades, magic items, enemies, all with different fighting styles, and new heroes to find and unlock Kerohiro the Flag Bearer is one grand adventure.

The Prince of the land is looking for a bride. But not just any bride. A bride who will be wearing the legendary wedding dress last seen in the deepest darkest dungeon. Clearly he's giving such a quest to find one kick-butt wife, and Umbrella is ready to leave her wicked stepmoth... er, I mean, Aunty, and prove that she is that crazy of a woman in room6's free puzzle platformer for iOS and Android, Tottoko Dungeon. The only problem is Umbrella is so gungho there isn't any stopping her! Charging forward our heroine will bounce off walls, snatch up treasures, and try to cut through any baddie that has the misfortune of standing in the way of her rampage. The problem is the dungeons are a big place and not very linear, and while Umbrella can always make it to the exit on her own, there are things she needs that are not on her path, or things she should avoid that are in her way, and that's where you come in. You are only given only two options for actions to use with Umbrella, and though you'll gain lots of abilities you'll need to decide what two will lead you to more gold and more treasure in your pockets. Collect all the treasures to unlock a hidden level, find weapons and outfits for her to use and keep her alive so she can keep going on her crazy wild adventure.

Able Black hates his Mother, but this puzzle-based, narrative-driven experience for iOS by Scott Leach isn't your average tale of teenage rebellion. Able's an android, but currently he's languishing away in the dark loneliness of Ark 19, an underground habitat created to save humanity from destruction. To avoid being shut down like so many that came before him, Able must take and pass the Citizenship Exam... but what is humanity, anyway? Why is one thing considered alive, and another isn't? Told through a series of chapters interspersed with puzzles, Able Black is a short but thoughtful story with an elegant presentation and an engrossing mood.

[Note: Please be aware that this game contains reference to subject matter some players may find upsetting.]

If you live in the West, you might only know February 14th as the traditional consumerist expression of affection. But in some Asian countries like Japan and South Korea, White Day, a month later, is just as big a deal, and in a lot of cases, it's about boys giving gifts to the girls they like. Lee Hui-min just wants to sneak into the school after hours to leave some candy for the girl he's crushing on, So-yeong, but finds himself trapped inside instead. After witnessing something horrible, it quickly becomes apparent that he can't be found by the janitor patrolling the halls, and he'll have to find a way out himself... but the school isn't as empty as he thinks. Originally released in 2001, this horror adventure has now been remade and re-released by ROIGAMES for Android and iOS, featuring revamped visuals, more spooks, improved content and more. Though some issues still need to be patched out, it's a remarkably well done remake whose demo you'll want to check out... though maybe not in the dark.

The Tantalus Theater Troupe aren't your ordinary actors... on the eve of a great celebration, they plan to use their performance at the castle to kidnap Princess Garnet. It just turns out, the Princess wants to be kidnapped, and that sounds just fine to brassy, self-confident Zidane, who's smitten at first sight. But this isn't an ordinary fairytale about a princess who's bored with royalty and wants to see the world... Princess Garnet is out to save it, even if it means defying the woman her mother, Queen Brahe, has become. Classic RPG adventuring from Square-Enix makes a return in Final Fantasy IX, available both for iOS and Android, and Windows through Steam to boot. With a very "old school" design compared to its grittier predecessors, Final Fantasy IX weaves storybook visuals and powerful themes of identity and self-worth for a captivating experience that makes the leap to modern devices with surprising grace.

Pine Studio's Firefighter Escape, also free for iOS and Android, is sadly not a game in which one must escape some sort of murderous, fire-axe-wielding fireman, but rather about helping a fireman find a way out of a fire department building that is currently on fire. Having your place of work go up in flames is probably not a good look for firemen as far as public perception goes... just sayin'. To play, just click to interact and move around the area. The fist in your inventory at the bottom of the screen represents trying force on things, while many items can actually be combined with one another, so experiment! The cursor will change if it passes over something you can click on, and the white text at the top of the screen as you mouse over things will tell you what you're looking at or about to do. As with a lot of Pine Studio titles, Firefighter Escape looks and plays pretty darn good, though is hampered by a tendency to make items you need teeny-tiny or otherwise hard to see, or having some unintuitive logic surrounding their uses. Still, it's a fun few minutes while they last, even if it looks like firefolk could probably do their jobs better without complex puzzle locks on all their equipment.

Play Firefighter Escape

Firefighter Escape (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch)


Firefighter Escape (Android, Android Tablet)