A James Kolchaka/Pixeljam joint production, Glorkian Warrior: The Trials of Glork gives you just the right mix of retro-shooter action, platform stomping, and Saturday morning cartoon. Its difficulty is definitely old-school, but it's bright, bouncy, mindless, and completely unashamed of it, making for fun sci-fi shenanigans.

Gain the rank of Star Admiral in this excellent new strategy card-collecting game for iOS from Hardscore Games. In a game that takes free-to-play mobile gaming to new heights, you won't be sorry when you join the Empire to take on the Shadow and Moxxu - and maybe become one of them as well - on your rise to the highest rank.

Cancer research isn't a topic that comes up too often in the world of gaming, mostly because it's slow and tedious work. That's why Cancer Research UK teamed up with Guerilla Tea to help make it more interesting. In Play to Cure: Genes in Space, you're a star pilot and your goal is to collect as much Element Alpha as you can. It's easy to forget when plotting your course and destroying asteroids that you're also helping to save lives.

Astronaut Spacewalk by Jorge Hernandez is the closest most of us will ever get to taking a no-tether trot in outer space. The delightfully complex and detailed simulation game gives you a screen filled with controls and a few simple missions to complete, then sits back and watches while you climb the impossibly high learning curve. It will take hours, not minutes, to learn how to maneuver your lone astronaut, and until you do, you'll probably feel confusion, bewilderment, and possibly a touch of anger. If you stick with it, though, you'll discover a game that shares the joys and wonders of space exploration tempered by the realism of science, and it's a wonderful experience indeed.

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.