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An iPad and iPhone game has jumped to PC, while a PC game is still set for a release on iPad. Earlier this week, Capybara’s experiential adventure game, Sword & Sworcery landed on Steam, while the dudes behind Legend of Grimrock [$14.99, Steam] continued to pound away at the long-awaited iPad version of the dark, atmospheric, and classic-style RPG.

Sword & Sworcery is currently $5.99 as part of a launch promotion that ends April 23. It’s a straight-up port so it doesn’t rock any new content, but it certainly looks prettier on our monitors than on our iPads.

The last time we covered Legend of Grimrock, developer Almost Human was thinking it had a chance of putting the game out to iPad by the end of 2011. Obviously, that didn’t pan out, but an iPad version is still very much in the works. An “iOS version is in the plans,” the developer wrote via its Twitter account the other afternoon. We’ve contacted Almost Human for a, uh, more specific answer.

Years ago, we wouldn’t have even thought this kind of movement was possible. Phone games were just… phone games. It’s incredible that these mobile experiences are becoming so much more than just time-wasters in such a short period of time. Wonder what kind of movement we’ll see within the next three-to-four years?

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Last week we previewed our upcoming app for TouchArcade. We’ve been anxious to get the app finally released into the hands of our users and have been working toward that goal for many months.

Our original plan had been to launch it on Monday of this week. Unfortunately, our lead web/backend developer was in a terrible accident over the weekend and is in critical condition. We are still hopeful for a full and meaningful recovery. Given the circumstances, we were unable to launch the TouchArcade App as planned.

We are still working hard towards that goal, and another of our developers is familiarizing himself with the code so that we can launch in the near future. Thank you for your patience.

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Growing up as an avid Mac gamer in the 1990s, I was a huge fan of RPGs put out by the folks at Spiderweb Software. Not particularly known for their graphical prowess (even back then), these shareware games of old focused more on exploration, narrative and, most important, freedom. Avernum: Escape From The Pit [$9.99] is the second game from Spiderweb to hit iOS, serving as the pinnacle for these RPG tenets and should be looked at as a gold standard for iOS RPGs.

First, a brief history lesson is in order. Avernum for iPad is a remake of the 1999 Avernum title, which itself was a rewrite of the 1995 Mac shareware title Exile: Escape from the Pit. While each iteration brought visual and combat upgrades, the same open-ended exploration system remained. The same holds true for Avernum for iPad, which receives overhauls in both its visual and character/battle systems.

In Avernum: Escape From the Pit, the Empire rules the surface. Anyone that crosses this oppressive regime is banished to underground region of Avernum, a world unto itself that replaces the sun with luminescent moss and the sky with endless caverns. The world, along with all its inhabitants comes to life in the game’s deep narrative which could easily span its own novel. It’s this world that you’re violently thrown into, and it’s in this world that you are free to do what you wish.

It’s this freedom that makes Avernum such a compelling and enjoyable experience. From the moment you customize your four person party at the onset, you are allowed to do what you wish. Sure, you are presented with some overarching decisions as you spend more time in the world (complete with three separate endings), but like all great RPGs, the true reward is in the journey. Whether you choose to be a willing asset of the struggling makeshift kingdom in Avernum, a lone wanderer trying to make do in the cavernous wild, or an agent of destruction and chaos, all paths are available in this title.

In terms of character development, there’re attributes, abilities and traits to customize, each being open to all characters. You really can’t appreciate the sheer amount of options you have as opposed to most other RPGs as a plethora of weapons, armor, abilities and spells supplement the core character stats mentioned above. Fans of the original Avernum series will notice that some of the skills have been streamlined. However, the options have been consolidated for the better, preserving the majority of the customizability while making the game far more accessible.

For those looking for a rundown of Avernum’s gameplay, you need not look any further than our review of Avadon: The Black Fortress, Spiderweb Software’s initial iOS offering that debuted last year. The same isometric, turn-based combat system returns, complete with various difficulties, an auto-save function and a new collection of achievements to earn. As with Avadon, the touch-based control system works well enough, although there are occasions of imprecise tapping, making your characters potentially act in ways you did not mean.

One of the side effects of open-ended gameplay is a shift in exploration and gameplay style. In the world of Avernum, you can and most likely will run into areas that you simply should have not stumbled onto. Enemy fortresses may have hidden rooms (complete with warning signs) featuring overpowered enemies that may wipe your party out. This leads to a lot of saving/reloading as well as a lot of backtracking should you choose to return to previously visited locales to beat that one powerful demon. Fans of streamlined experiences may balk at this gameplay style, but I love the variety as it sets the tone of Avernum as a chaotic world that isn’t as clear-cut as it may appear.

As we mentioned earlier, Spiderweb Software games are homages to classic 90s RPGs in many aspects. That includes the visuals and music, which are simplistic and work just enough to provide ambience. And yet, there were many occasions while playing in which I felt far more attached to the events unfolding than I have while playing any ‘next-gen’ RPG. The amount of effort and care put into the narrative, quests and even level design create an atmosphere that is sorely missed in other titles (assuming you’re willing to lend an able imagination to fill in the gaps).

While Avadon served as a streamlined ‘introductory’ experience to the world of classic RPGs, Avernum (as evidenced above) removes all the handholding in order to create a more open-ended experience. I believe this choice makes Avernum the more fulfilling and satisfying title, as well. The storytelling, customization, and sheer amount of content make this RPG a true powerhouse on iOS. There’s also a certain amount of nostalgic satisfaction as newer gamers are able to experience a world made popular during the Mac shareware golden age. While there will undoubtedly be some who turn away because of the retro look and feel, a truly rewarding experience awaits anyone else willing to dive into the pit.

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Fans of 2D Minecraft-ing on iOS have had it pretty good with the excellent Junk Jack [$2.99/Lite], but the developers at Bytebin Studios want to know what would happen if you take a similar Terraria/Minecraft sandbox idea, placed it in a steampunk setting, and let everyone connect to one giant persistent world together online MMO style. The result is Deepworld, and you can get a pretty good idea of what it’s like in this new gameplay trailer.

Deepworld is in an alpha state but is close to entering beta, and as the game stands right now it contains procedurally generated worlds, a robust crafting system, a day/night cycle and weather effects, and a limited number of enemies. It will also be coming out for Mac, and since the game world is stored in the cloud, there will be cross-platform play between the iOS and Mac versions.

Longer-term goals for Deepworld are a dynamic ecosystem that can be dilapidated and brought back to health, a steam-based power source for creating vehicles and machines, and social game types like Capture the Flag and Freeze Tag. While the idea of something like Deepworld is certainly intriguing, it’s also incredibly ambitious for an iOS title. I’ll feel much better once the initial product gets released and I can actually try it out, and much like Junk Jack or Minecraft itself, Deepworld will likely evolve over time.

It sounds like Deepworld is set to initially launch pretty soon, and we’ll keep an eye out for a specific release date. Until then you can swing by our forums to talk about the game.

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Crescent Moon Games’ Paper Monsters [ Free ] hit the App Store earlier this year, and we liked it quite a bit in our review. It’s a slick looking platformer that’s highly inspired by the Mario series, and it wouldn’t be that big of a stretch to make some Little Big Planet comparisons. Regardless, it’s a load of fun, and is available for free on the App Store right now.

I dig the boss battles, the auto-running dash mode is cool, and the game has a great overall feel. If you don’t have it already, make sure you snag it during this promotion.

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Here’s a heads up for the many board game (Well, in this case, card game.) fanatics out there- USM, the same German outfit responsible for the iOS port of Settlers of Catan [$4.99 / $4.99 (HD)] just released a few screenshots of their upcoming adaptation of Rivals for Catan on our forums.

Check ‘em out:

Rivals for Catan is a re-worked version of the Catan Card Game which itself is a re-worked version of Settlers of Catan. That’s some serious board game Inception action right there. Anyway, the card games are a simplified take on the territory building gameplay mechanic that Settlers hinges on.

Details are fairly vague right now, but USM has mentioned that the game will be a universal app that’s going to have both two player local and online multiplayer. Either way, I’m always excited to see these kind of physical to iOS transitions for “well known” board and card games. Playing with some random dude online is often so much easier, approachable, and generally substantially cheaper than just buying the physical game.

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One of the all-time best platformers on iOS would have to be Acne Play’s Pizza Boy [ $1.99 ]. Released back in September of 2010, Pizza Boy absolutely nailed the virtual controls thing on the touchscreen, and almost more importantly they totally got the “feel” right – that is, the weight and movement of your character as he ran and jumped through the world felt perfectly tuned, like a classic 2D Mario game.

We thought Pizza Boy was great when it hit, though it was a bit on the short side, something that was rectified a few months later. Now, after all this time since Pizza Boy’s release, Acne Play, in conjunction with NCSoft, has announced their newest game for iOS and Android called My Little Hero with the following teaser trailer.

The problem with this teaser trailer is, well, that it’s just one big tease. There’s no gameplay shown and we’re really left wondering what kind of game My Little Hero is. I guess that is the point of a teaser, right? At the very least our interest is piqued.

The only other information we’ve been able to glean from our forums is that My Little Hero is an action adventure title and we should be hearing more on the game in the way of screens and videos soon. Given how awesome Pizza Boy is, consider us excited for whatever My Little Hero turns out to be.

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We’ve been following the upcoming Jetpack Joyride [ Free ] update since we first caught wind of it back at GDC. Since then Halfbrick has been slowly teasing additional gadgets that are going to be included in the soon-to-be-released update.

Here’s the latest:

In a nutshell, gadgets are going to work sort of like the perk system in Call of Duty and other similar games where you can mix and match two persistent bonuses. It sounds like it’s going to add even more replay value to the game as players slowly figure out which two gadgets they like pairing together.

If all goes as planned, the update should be landing sometime later this month.

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Crescent Moon is publishing its first racing game later this May. It’s called Slingshot Racing, and as its name implies, the core action loosely revolves around slinging your cars around tracks. Its twists are in its hooks, literally. Each car is equipped with a grappling hook, so you’ll actually be flicking cars’ hooks on pieces of the environment as you race. The steampunk-stylized visuals help to explain this weirdness away.

Slingshot is being developed by Snowbolt Interactive, which is a collective of ex-Frontier guys who helped with titles like Lost Winds and Kinectimals. We expect to be impressed with this one considering those chops.

We’ll be hearing a lot more about this in the future, so stay tuned. Also, check out these screens. This thing is a looker.

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If the latest Call of Duty hasn’t replaced Battlefield 3 in your disc tray yet, then we’d imagine this news could be exciting. EA has just released a companion app for the widely lauded PC and console shooter. It’s an interesting one, too, as it leverages EA’s Origin to bring in a much more meaningful social component than we’re used to with these things. From EA Battlelog [Free], you can message your friends, view their progressions and compare it with your own, and see what servers they’re in. You can also view your own stats, monitor weapon progression, and see where you stand on the game’s leaderboards.

Battlefield 3 launched in October 2011, so this app is definitely coming in much, much later than we would have liked… but we’ve been kinda looking for an excuse to dive back into the game. Those helicopters aren’t going to crash themselves.

[Thanks, Jakub!]

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