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If you're a regular around here, you've probably played tons of iPhone games, as well as other kinds of video games for that matter. The key word here is "playing" these games, as no matter what the object of whatever video game you're currently enjoying is, it likely involves you doing something. That's where Godville [Free] comes in, it's a "zero-player game" in that it requires absolutely no interaction from the player at all. Your character in Godville plays himself, all by himself, and you take the role of an omnipotent god and can either encourage or punish your hero, or do nothing at all.

When you want to know what your character in Godville is up to, you simply load the game and see what adventures he has been on lately while you've been off doing other things, or playing actual games. Sometimes your hero will be brave and slay endless hordes of monsters, collecting and equipping all forms of magical loot along the way. Sometimes your hero will find himself outmatched and need to run, and other times your character will either swindle or get swindled, all without any interaction from you at all.

As your hero goes on his adventure he can level up, eventually earn a personal motto, start learning specialized skills, or even join a guild. Your character has his own alignment which is swayed by his adventures, and once he completes a quest, he gets a new one and goes off in attempt to complete it all by himself. This may all sound a little stupid, and honestly, it is– But that's the best part.

If you've ever played an MMORPG or any other RPG that focuses on grinding and repetitiveness, it's surprisingly amusing to just be able to load up your Godville character and vicariously live through his randomized adventures without needing to actually do anything at all. I have a feeling that fans of RPG's will at least get a chuckle out of some of the things your character ends up doing in Godville, and everyone else can just download a free game then complain in iTunes reviews that you can't do anything.

I'm not entirely sure friends mean anything in this game, but if you're looking for another deity to add in game, my username is "Hodapp".

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Back at E3 I stepped aboard the Gameloft party bus and was given a peek at their upcoming lineup. One of those games was Let's Golf 2 [$4.99], the sequel to one of my favorite golf games on the App Store, Let's Golf [$1.99 / Free / HD]. Looking back at the review of the original, I loved that Let's Golf was the closest thing to Hot Shots Golf on the App Store, one of the only reasons I kept my PSP.

Let's Golf 2 takes the same basic gameplay and enhances it with more holes (108 this time), along with more playable characters, unlockables, and better graphics across the six different environments. There's even online multiplayer, although as this point too few people are playing for me to get a game going. There is a career mode to play through, and each of the golfers even have their own super power they can use in a pinch such as a more powerful drive or more precise puts.

If you enjoyed the first Let's Golf, or gold games with an arcade feel in general, you should really give the Let's Golf series a spin. If the online multiplayer in Let's Golf 2 works as well as I hope it does, Gameloft is going to have a real hole in one on their hands here.

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Gameloft and Capcom have recently dropped some of their games down to 99¢, and while some of these titles have been on sale before, there's a couple of great deals to be had out of the bunch.

Gameloft titles on sale:

• Modern Combat: Sandstorm, $4.99 → 99¢
• Dungeon Hunter, $4.99 → 99¢
• Skater Nation, $4.99 → 99¢

Capcom titles on sale:

• 1942: First Strike, $2.99 → 99¢
• Mega Man II, $2.99 → 99¢
• Dark Void Zero, $2.99 → 99¢
• Are You Smarter Than A 5^th Grader? 2010, $1.99 → 99¢
• Who Wants To Be A Millionaire 2010, $1.99 → 99¢

My personal pick on the Gameloft side is Modern Combat: Sandstorm, which is a very good Call of Duty-like FPS with online multiplayer. On the Capcom side I recommend Dark Void Zero, which is an 8-bit “demake” of the console game Dark Void. It really nails the look and feel of the classic NES games, and even has you blowing into the mic of your iPhone to simulate blowing into a NES cartridge, as was customary when you couldn't get a game to work.

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The folks at Secret Exit, who are responsible for bringing us the incredible Zen Bound and Zen Bound 2, have just released a content update to their delightful ragdoll physics game Stair Dismount Universal [99¢/Lite]. If you aren't familiar with the title, the first Stair Dismount essentially spawned the inflict-pain-on-a-ragdoll genre on the PC back in 2002. Since then a number of other games on the iPhone have utilized a similar idea, but none have achieved the polish and technical complexity of Secret Exit's offering on this platform.  Gameplay involves pushing a nondescript dummy named Mr. Dismount down a set of stairs, with your score being based on how much pain you can inflict on the poor fellow. It's a satisfying feeling, and has an undeniable "zen-like" appeal as you try to top your previous high score.

Stair Dismount has been updated a number of times since it's release last November, adding new levels and online leaderboards via OpenFeint. A couple of months back, the game was updated to be a universal app, with special enhancements for when running on the iPad. Today's update adds two more brand new levels, bringing the total number to 12, as well as iOS4 support including fast app switching. More significant, however, is the addition of 3 new characters available for 99¢ as an in-app purchase. Besides Mr. Dismount who is an averaged size person, the new characters are Mr. Reach who is incredibly tall and lanky, Mr. Heft who is short and stalky with a huge belly, and Mr. Stalwart who is basically the shape of a gorilla.

These new characters are a ton of fun to use, and actually change the gameplay pretty significantly. Mr. Heft crashes hard while falling down the stairs due to his portly stature, Mr. Reach uses his length to hit many points of the level, and Mr. Stalwart has all sorts of odd behavior due to his stubby legs, long arms, and incredibly top-heavy build. They can all be had for one 99¢ in-app purchase, and really breathe new life into this already entertaining game.

Due to the ability to save snapshots of each dismount, it seems every time I play the game I get at least one hilarious photo of one of the characters in some kind of precarious position, which has been fun to share amongst other players in the game's forum thread. If you find yourself with some funny photos of your own, upload them to our forums for others to appreciate and comment on. And if you already own Stair Dismount Universal, make sure you grab the latest update for the 2 new free levels and new IAP character pack.

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Jet Car Stunts [$1.99 / Free] by True Axis is without a doubt a favorite around here, and last week we posted about the recent update which not only added a DLC level pack, but also threw in a load of iOS 4 enhancements including antialiasing on newer devices as well as fast app switching support. True Axis had intended this update to also include Retina Display support, but a last minute bug prevented the game from running at the glorious 960×640 resolution. This was quickly fixed, and an updated version was submitted to the App Store which was just approved mere moments ago.

Check out how awesome Jet Car Stunts looks on the iPhone 4:

If you're an iPhone 4 owner with Jet Car Stunts, don't waste any time before mashing the update button in iTunes. The game looks fantastic on the Retina Display, and still runs at its sky high frame rate even at the higher resolution. If this is the first you've heard of Jet Car Stunts, take a look at our review. We liked the game so much we awarded it five stars, and from checking out the quotes in the iTunes description, we're not alone.

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When playing games or watching films, I'm not typically the type to get scared. Those surprise moments that are designed to make you jump don't even draw a flinch from me, and horror movies in general usually elicit more laughter than fear. So I was certainly taken aback when I found that a little iPhone game, Prisoner 84 from Hidden Games to be exact, actually had me on the edge of my seat with paranoia due to its unsettling atmosphere. As far as gameplay is concerned, there's nothing utterly mind blowing as on a whole it's rather simplistic, although certainly above average. But based on the overall feelings Prisoner 84 can invoke and how well suited to the iPhone it is, it's an experience that really captures your imagination.

The game takes place on an offshore prison where you play as prisoner 84. You awaken in solitary confinement to find that everyone in the prison is either dead or has become some form of undead. Gruesome and disturbing images wait for you around every corner. Your goal is to escape the prison, and along the way find out about your past and why exactly you've been sent to this prison. If you were to judge the game based on screenshots alone, you would likely not be impressed. The character models are blocky and lack detail, but for good reason. Every enemy has a complete skeletal structure underneath their outer skin and clothing. So blasting away at them will slowly chip off pieces of their flesh, exposing parts of their skeleton until they're finally put down for good. It's a really satisfying and neat effect, but at the expense of detailed character visuals.

The environments are a different story, and are what really makes Prisoner 84 shine. The standout feature is the lighting system, which creates a stark contrast of shadows throughout the game. Every light source reflects accurately on prisoner 84 as he makes his way through the maze-like prison, and the lighting does wonders to make you forget that the character models are less than stellar. Of equally high quality is the sound design, and while there's no music playing during the game, the soundtrack is comprised of haunting audio effects that fit the game perfectly. Distant moans or mechanical banging will come out of nowhere, and footsteps change from sharp and echoing to sticky and gross as you walk through a trail of blood.

This exceptional atmosphere that Prisoner 84 creates would be nothing without gameplay to go with it, and the game delivers fairly well on this front. From a third-person perspective, you control 84 with a small d-pad for movement and swipe the screen to aim. The d-pad is serviceable, albeit kind of funky, but the swipe to aim is nearly flawless. 84's movement is deliberately slow, but a quick double-tap of the forward arrow makes him move at a faster pace. There's a single button for firing your weapon, and a context sensitive button that will appear if you are next to something in the environment that can be interacted with. An inventory button resides in the upper corner and takes you to a screen where you can keep tabs on the puzzle items you've obtained and the weapons, outfits, and other collectible items that are in the game.

One of the things that really draws you into Prisoner 84 is the minimalist approach to the UI and other traditional game elements. There's no aiming reticule, rather where the barrel of your gun points is the direction you'll fire. Also there isn't any life indicator other than your character's diminishing appearance as he has damage inflicted upon him. Other nice touches really make you feel as though you're playing the game through 84's perspective, like actually touching and dragging a security card through a terminal or placing a key in the keyhole and turning it to unlock doors and lockers. Some may call this gimmicky, but to me it's a refreshing change from the by-the-numbers approach of similar games, and shows some ingenuity on the part of the developer for making the most of the touch screen interface.

With all my praise for Prisoner 84, it certainly does have drawbacks. I can accept the low poly characters since it allows for the skeletal damage system, as well as ensuring the game runs smoothly on all devices, but they do stick out like a sore thumb. The puzzles in the game are really basic, mostly consisting of collecting an item that has an obvious use later in the game. And as far as enemy AI is concerned, well, it barely exists. You can be blasting away at a baddie, with another a mere couple feet away that stands like a statue as if nothing were going on right next to him. But the game's focus is squarely on exploration and discovery, with the combat and puzzle elements taking somewhat of a backseat. In this way Prisoner 84 still succeeds as an enjoyable experience in spite of the negatives.

In regards to the horror game genre, Prisoner 84 really nails the important points, which is mainly a bone chilling atmosphere. It's certainly not the greatest action or puzzle game there is, but the exploration factor is truly compelling. As such, it certainly won't appeal to everybody, and I know for a fact that some people just don't dig these types of slow paced games. But for me, it's one of the most interesting and unique experiences I've had on the iPhone, and the comments in our forum are overwhelmingly positive. The fact that the entire game was created by a two man development team makes it all the more impressive, and they obviously have a very clear vision of what games like this are supposed to be like. Quibbles aside, Prisoner 84 offers a great amount of entertainment for the price, and proves that you don't need a big screen or a big budget to bring a scary good time to players.

Note: There is a known crashing bug at a couple points in the game when inputing a 3 digit security code into a computer by way of sliding each number in place for 3 seconds. The game has a tendency to crash during this event, but since the game automatically saves each time you enter a new room, you won't lose much progress. Repeating the code entry will get it to eventually work, so it shouldn't impede your progress, and the developer is already working on a fix for this.

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When playing games or watching films, I'm not typically the type to get scared. Those surprise moments that are designed to make you jump don't even draw a flinch from me, and horror movies in general usually elicit more laughter than fear. So I was certainly taken aback when I found that a little iPhone game, Prisoner 84 from Hidden Games to be exact, actually had me on the edge of my seat with paranoia due to its unsettling atmosphere. As far as gameplay is concerned, there's nothing utterly mind blowing as on a whole it's rather simplistic, although certainly above average. But based on the overall feelings Prisoner 84 can invoke and how well suited to the iPhone it is, it's an experience that really captures your imagination.

The game takes place on an offshore prison where you play as prisoner 84. You awaken in solitary confinement to find that everyone in the prison is either dead or has become some form of undead. Gruesome and disturbing images wait for you around every corner. Your goal is to escape the prison, and along the way find out about your past and why exactly you've been sent to this prison. If you were to judge the game based on screenshots alone, you would likely not be impressed. The character models are blocky and lack detail, but for good reason. Every enemy has a complete skeletal structure underneath their outer skin and clothing. So blasting away at them will slowly chip off pieces of their flesh, exposing parts of their skeleton until they're finally put down for good. It's a really satisfying and neat effect, but at the expense of detailed character visuals.

The environments are a different story, and are what really makes Prisoner 84 shine. The standout feature is the lighting system, which creates a stark contrast of shadows throughout the game. Every light source reflects accurately on prisoner 84 as he makes his way through the maze-like prison, and the lighting does wonders to make you forget that the character models are less than stellar. Of equally high quality is the sound design, and while there's no music playing during the game, the soundtrack is comprised of haunting audio effects that fit the game perfectly. Distant moans or mechanical banging will come out of nowhere, and footsteps change from sharp and echoing to sticky and gross as you walk through a trail of blood.

This exceptional atmosphere that Prisoner 84 creates would be nothing without gameplay to go with it, and the game delivers fairly well on this front. From a third-person perspective, you control 84 with a small d-pad for movement and swipe the screen to aim. The d-pad is serviceable, albeit kind of funky, but the swipe to aim is nearly flawless. 84's movement is deliberately slow, but a quick double-tap of the forward arrow makes him move at a faster pace. There's a single button for firing your weapon, and a context sensitive button that will appear if you are next to something in the environment that can be interacted with. An inventory button resides in the upper corner and takes you to a screen where you can keep tabs on the puzzle items you've obtained and the weapons, outfits, and other collectible items that are in the game.

One of the things that really draws you into Prisoner 84 is the minimalist approach to the UI and other traditional game elements. There's no aiming reticule, rather where the barrel of your gun points is the direction you'll fire. Also there isn't any life indicator other than your character's diminishing appearance as he has damage inflicted upon him. Other nice touches really make you feel as though you're playing the game through 84's perspective, like actually touching and dragging a security card through a terminal or placing a key in the keyhole and turning it to unlock doors and lockers. Some may call this gimmicky, but to me it's a refreshing change from the by-the-numbers approach of similar games, and shows some ingenuity on the part of the developer for making the most of the touch screen interface.

With all my praise for Prisoner 84, it certainly does have drawbacks. I can accept the low poly characters since it allows for the skeletal damage system, as well as ensuring the game runs smoothly on all devices, but they do stick out like a sore thumb. The puzzles in the game are really basic, mostly consisting of collecting an item that has an obvious use later in the game. And as far as enemy AI is concerned, well, it barely exists. You can be blasting away at a baddie, with another a mere couple feet away that stands like a statue as if nothing were going on right next to him. But the game's focus is squarely on exploration and discovery, with the combat and puzzle elements taking somewhat of a backseat. In this way Prisoner 84 still succeeds as an enjoyable experience in spite of the negatives.

In regards to the horror game genre, Prisoner 84 really nails the important points, which is mainly a bone chilling atmosphere. It's certainly not the greatest action or puzzle game there is, but the exploration factor is truly compelling. As such, it certainly won't appeal to everybody, and I know for a fact that some people just don't dig these types of slow paced games. But for me, it's one of the most interesting and unique experiences I've had on the iPhone, and the comments in our forum are overwhelmingly positive. The fact that the entire game was created by a two man development team makes it all the more impressive, and they obviously have a very clear vision of what games like this are supposed to be like. Quibbles aside, Prisoner 84 offers a great amount of entertainment for the price, and proves that you don't need a big screen or a big budget to bring a scary good time to players.

Note: There is a known crashing bug at a couple points in the game when inputing a 3 digit security code into a computer by way of sliding each number in place for 3 seconds. The game has a tendency to crash during this event, but since the game automatically saves each time you enter a new room, you won't lose much progress. Repeating the code entry will get it to eventually work, so it shouldn't impede your progress, and the developer is already working on a fix for this.

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I'm not entirely sure that I'd call Infinite Dreams' Let's create! Pottery HD [$4.99] a game, strictly speaking, but somehow it managed to soak up a ridiculous amount of my time this weekend as the iPad was passed around the house with everyone making their own pottery creation. It's not strictly an entertainment app either, as there are objectives to follow, goals to meet, and things to unlock as well. Regardless of how you want to classify it, Let's create! Pottery HD is a really cool experience, and shares a similar feel to the Zen Bound games with a relaxing mood and controls that feel remarkably natural.

As you may suspect from the title of the game, the object of Let's create! Pottery HD is to create pottery. Tapping "create" on the main menu takes you to a spinning pottery wheel with a lump of clay on it that you then transform using your finger. Dragging up or down changes the height of your piece of pottery, while touching and dragging in or out changes the width or whatever section you're touching. I'm sure there will be some pottery wheel veterans who don't like how dumbed down this all is, as you never need to deal with adding more clay, maintaining any kind of balance, or the million other things that can lead to all-out pottery disaster.

Once you're satisfied with the shape of your creation, you fire it up in the kiln. After that's complete, you're able to paint it with all kinds of different colored paints and "brushes" which are basically just stamp tools of pre-made stripes and other designs. Following that, you then add your masterpiece to your collection, at which point you can either keep it there to bring up later (and send emails including an image of it) or you can sell your creation at auction. Using the coins you earn from selling your in-game artwork you can then buy more paints and brushes to make even more diverse pottery.

All this by itself would be cool, and make an entertaining little art app, but what really caught my interest is the fake email system that's included in game. As the player you take the role of the proprietor of some kind of custom pottery shop, taking email orders from people who send you photos of things that they want, and you try as hard as you can to duplicate them. While you're trying your hand at filling their order, you can slide the photo they sent you out from the side of the screen and see the customer's satisfaction levels in real time with both the shape and coloring on a scale of five stars.

When your creation is completed, you mail it off to them, and if it meets their satisfaction you're met with a reward and another order. If not, it's back to the drawing board (or, pottery wheel, I suppose). This component of the game seems entirely optional, and initially just seemed like a basic tutorial I had chosen to ignore. After revisiting the faux-inbox, it doesn't take long until the creations your customers are asking you to come up with get quite complex, requiring careful study of the photo and sometimes even trying more than once to meet their pottery needs.

It seems so far that everyone on our forums who has tried the game has enjoyed it, although I do agree with some of the criticisms, specifically, Let's create! Pottery HD is a game that badly needs a profile system for multiple players. Easy to play games like this on a device like like the iPad are just begging to get passed around to give everyone in your house a try. The email pottery commission system is really cool, but once you get a few projects in they start to become way too complicated for a beginning player.

Even without a multiple player profile system, Let's create! Pottery HD is totally worth a look. The entire game is a very unique experience that works extremely well on the iPad. As mentioned, I could see some people being annoyed by how amazingly simplified the developers have made everything, but as a veteran of horrible summer camp pottery creations that only a mother could love– I appreciate the non-existant skill requirement to make great looking pottery in game.

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There are already a plethora of Tron inspired games on the App Store, predominantly in the form of light bike games. And while some of them are indeed quite entertaining, none of them are actual Tron licensed games. That changed this weekend as Disney has released its own officially branded Tron game in anticipation of the Tron Legacy movie and Tron Evolution console game, both due for release later this year. While not the greatest game you'll ever play, Tron for iPhone is still pretty cool, and has a great visual style that should appeal to fans of the movies franchise.

What you initially get for this free Tron game is a dual stick tank shooter which we previewed during E3 last month. It's surprisingly fun to play, albeit a little uninspired. Fifteen single player levels have you fighting off enemies as you trigger switches that eventually unlock the end goal of the level. Your tank weapons can be upgraded giving you some satisfying firepower, although these upgrades don't carry over level to level. It can be frustratingly hard at times as enemies swarm you from every direction and can deplete your entire health allotment in the blink of an eye. Still, for a game that cost you nothing to try, it's not bad.

What's more interesting than the single player offering is the multiplayer mode. At the beginning of the game you'll choose what color faction you want to be associated with, and a running total of the weekly performance of each faction can be viewed from within the game. It's a neat idea and gives you the feeling of being part of a team, and apparently according to our forums the orange faction is the unofficial faction of TouchArcade, if you'd like to show your TA pride. Online matches connect very easily and you can choose to partake in 2, 4, or 6 player matches. It's pretty fun, but it's hard to get into matches where people are taking things very seriously and expect to get your own teammates killing you fairly often.

A clever bit of cryptic information is to be found in the games description, which is essentially just a string of binary code. Once solved, it reads “This TRON app will evolve. ComiTRON coming 072210”. Not coincidentally, 7/22/10 is the start of Comi-Con in San Diego, with a Tron panel discussion scheduled for this very same day. We're not sure if that means they'll just be unveiling new information regarding the iPhone game or if Disney actually has the first update to Tron set for release on this day. Either way, we'll be eager to find out, as they've confirmed that Light Bike and Discs modes are planned additions to the game.

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