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There's oodles of sales this weekend, and we've cherry picked some of the noteworthy ones, but there's tons more out there. I figure this is as good of a time as any to post a little guide on how to find good deals on the App Store.

First off, you could stop by our Price Drops, Must-Have Freebies, and Deals Forum where we've got an army of dudes combing the App Store to find cool games on the cheap (or free). If you want to get a little more proactive, you can go scoping for deals yourself. How we do this when we post about sales is by utilizing our sister site, AppShopper.

Here are some handy links:

• All games with price drops.
• Popular games with price drops.
• All previously paid games that have been made free.
• Popular games that were previously paid that are now free

Watching the previous two freebie links can yield some particularly great results, as you can often find games that go free before whatever freebie promotions those particular games might be doing even technically start. Similarly, I've heard tales of some people being able to snag great games that were accidentally marked to free.

As far as the differences between "all" games and "popular" games, that all has to do with a top secret algorithm that attempts to determine what kind of games people are interested in. Personally, I tend to lean towards just wading through all games as sometimes you find some really crazy stuff in there.

Alternatively, you could just download the AppShopper App [Free] which also is pretty great for finding deals.

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In the interest of keeping our Labor Day sales coverage coherent, we’ve split it into as many studio-centric categories as possible. With any bargain big, though, you’re going to come up with titles that don’t quite sync up to each other. That’s what this post is all about — it’s the catch-all for the various independent studios out there with a notable game on sale. As you’ll see, some of these might not be celebrating Labor Day specifically, so it’s in your own interests to move double time and gobble these up.

In no specific order outside of alphabetical, here’s another list of hot deals:

• Destructopus: Total Rampage – $.99 → Free
• Geared – $.99 → Free
• Geared 2 – $.99 → Free [Universal]
• Geared for iPad – $2.99 → Free
• iDaTank – $1.99 → Free [Universal]
• Reckless Getaway – $2.99 → $.99 [Universal]
• TITUS – politics is not a game – $1.99 → $.99 [Universal]
• The Secret of Chateau de Moreau – $4.99 → $.99
• Polar Coaster – $.99 → Free
• Papercut – $.99 → Free
• Zombie Highway – $.99 → Free [Universal]

A notable mention here goes to Big Fish Games, which is having a ridiculously HUGE sale. All of its catalogue is being offered up at $.99. We’re talking well over 40 games for pennies on the dollar, so feel free to browse that listing here.

Undoubtedly, there are more sales out there, so we highly advise you bargain hunters of the world to check out our deals forum. Otherwise, go grab the entire Geared franchise for the generous price of $0. These are amazing games that you shouldn’t miss.

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Earlier this summer at WWDC 2011, we chilled with Get Set Games and discussed its plans for a huge new update to its money-printing machine, Mega Jump [Free]. That update is now available on the App Store and we’ve grabbed some details that’ll whet your appetite while you wait for it to download.

The headliner of the overall package is, of course, the brand new world. “Magica,” as it’s called, is a conglomeration of 20 brand new stages that provide more challenges with fresh backgrounds. A new character, Rolf the Wolf, has also been added to a steadily growing cast of freakishly cute and enlarged animal-like… things. One of the finer additions being pointed out is the fact that free MP has returned. The sticking point is that you’ll have to “watch videos” in order to participate.

Naturally, bug fixes and the promise of even more to come, including more worlds content, are also being teased.

Love it or hate, Mega Jump is certainly becoming one of the more pleasant and refined free-to-play experiences out there when you factor in updates like these. We’re excited to see where it’s going and how its own model evolves as more and more content gets tacked on.

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Back in May, we were quite taken with the crazy trailer for Techno Kitten Adventure [Free], mostly due to it featuring a large man in a horrible cat suit. Techno Kitten Adventure was released last year as an Xbox Live Indie Game, and has a pretty dedicated following. Developer Elite Gudz was in the process of revamping the entire game with shiny new graphics and playable kittens, as well as bringing it on over to the iOS platform.

A couple of weeks later, Techno Kitten Adventure did launch in the App Store, and got a solid stamp of approval from yours truly during our podcast that following week. In fact, that was the first inklings of the now world famous Jared’s Kitty Korner portion of our podcast, which makes Techno Kitten Adventure somewhat historically significant.

Then about a month after that, an update was released for Techno Kitten Adventure that added the internet’s most famous feline the Nyan Cat as a playable character. Sadly, the powers that be who control everything Nyan Cat related didn’t take too kindly to this addition to the game, and shortly thereafter Nyan Cat was removed and replaced with a parody cat that flies backwards and barfs a stream of rainbows. That’s a pretty fair trade in my book, to be honest.

Now another brand new update for Techno Kitten Adventure has landed and it adds in another one of the internet’s favorite obsessions: bacon. Or less specifically, meat in general. The new Meat Pack comes completely free and offers a brand new song, a new extremely meat themed level, and 3 new playable cats made from various types of meat. It’s a lot of meat to be sure, but I know for a fact that’s just how Brad Nicholson likes it.

Also, the entire gist of Techno Kitten Adventure is to test your ability to play a cave flyer game with as many obnoxious visual distractions as humanly possible constantly flying in your face. The new meat level takes this to beyond the extreme. Not only is there crazy meat stuffs flying all over the screen at all times, but the entire screen itself is prone to zooming, shaking, and even flipping horizontally so you’re all of a sudden moving in the opposite direction. Basically, if you’re prone to nausea or vomiting, the meat level might test your will.

When it comes down to the actual gameplay, Techno Kitten Adventure is about as basic as a cave flyer can be. Jetpack Joyride [99¢] this is not. But, when you factor in the absolutely bizarre and elating sights and sounds, it’s a hard game not to enjoy. Techno Kitten Adventure is my immediate go to game when I know I need a smile or I want to get an annoying dance song stuck in my head. Also, kittens. Who doesn’t love kittens, am I right?

Since the game is initially a free score limited version with the ability to upgrade from within the app, the best way to see if Techno Kitten Adventure is the right game for you is just to download it and see, or stop by our forums for more player impressions.

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If you've ever played a puzzle game on iOS, you're probably familiar with the three-star ranking systems that plague the genre. Is plague too harsh a word? Certainly some games benefit from being able to offer a scale of difficulty, especially physics puzzles. But other games use them as a way to reward failure. Sure, you did the puzzle wrong, but you tried, and that's what matters. Here's a participation ribbon. Feel good about yourself.

Whenever I completed a puzzle in Punch A Hole [$0.99] with one or two stars, I felt that patronizing head pat. I might as well have pressed a level skip button (absent here, but also unneeded), because I certainly didn't solve the puzzle correctly. Played for one or two stars, Punch a Hole is a lifeless thing, barely able to hold my interest long enough to punch the necessary holes. Play for three stars and it comes to life, a mind-bending challenge that kept me captivated beyond any distraction while I tried and retried single levels over and over, knowing the solution was just out of my reach.

Players will certainly start in the right mindset — it's virtually impossible to earn fewer than three stars for far too many levels. Punch a Hole holds your hand too tightly while it teaches you the basic mechanics of the game. You play on a top-down billiards table, with the goal of moving colored balls into matching holes. Swipe a ball in the four primary directions and it will travel in that direction until it encounters something, like another ball, the edge of the table or a hole. You can fail by knocking it off the table or into the wrong hole, but you can always tap undo to go back as many steps as you need.

You can also punch holes in the table to stop the ball from moving, which is where the challenge comes in. Each level has a set number of holes you can create for the best ranking, the fewest that can possibly be used to solve the puzzle. When the game's difficulty eventually kicks in it requires large doses of lateral thinking. You'll need to punch a hole here so that you can bounce this ball off of that one, knocking the other over there, and…you get the idea.

Obstacles are introduced as time goes by. Balls of different colors get in each other's way, they bounce off blocks and slide through tubes. You can even paint them. Figuring out how to best use or avoid each obstacle is great fun, and what works in one level will rarely make the next much easier. There are a few epiphanies to be had, though.

Beyond the lack of conviction in ranking players' performance, Punch a Hole stumbles a few times. The difficulty curve is messy: levels are too easy for too long, and even once the challenge ramps up you'll occasional run into levels that are dead simple. The Game Center achievements are a disappointment. All of them can be earned by playing the game normally, except those for completing with three stars. Those ones can be completed by playing the game correctly. I will note, however, that while the art style and interface look overly utilitarian in screenshots, they're pleasantly simple and clean in action.

When Punch a Hole is bad, it's boring. But when it's good, it's frustrating in the best possible way. I feel well-rewarded for working my way through the slow bits when I'm free to experiment in the hardest of the levels. I can't recommend it wholeheartedly, but on the whole I've enjoyed my time with the game. I'll certainly be watching for releases from its developer, Bartosz Ciechanowski, in the future. If you decide to jump in too, let us know what you think in our discussion thread.

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The original Doodle Jump [99¢] hit the App Store in early 2009, and before the rise of Angry Birds was the undisputed king of casual gaming. The doodler has been spotted on stage at Lady Gaga concerts, and the game has even been mentioned on sitcoms as well as seen on late night talk shows. Doodle Jump was also amongst the first of the true indie success stories, created entirely by two brothers who went on to enjoy millions of downloads of the game.

The gameplay itself is ridiculously simple, and is controlled entirely by tilting, and jumping from platform to platform. Over time, and through various updates, all sorts of different power-ups, enemies, and graphical skins were also thrown into the mix. Doodle Jump was also one of the first game to feature online leader boards displayed in game by little hash marks along the side as you made your ascent, a feature that is now practically standard in any vertical jumper.

When the iPad was released, we continually quizzed developer Lima Sky for when we'd see a Doodle Jump on the big screen, and were met with responses regarding how they didn't want to just put Doodle Jump on the iPad, they wanted to do something special. Well, it turns out that all that special stuff is going to be part of an upcoming sequel, tentatively titled Doodle Jump 2.

So Doodle Jump for iPad [$2.99] is basically exactly what it sounds like: Doodle Jump on the iPad. Playing the game feels a little different since you can see so much more of the game world, and obviously playing a tilt-based game on the iPad is vastly different from the iPhone. The extra heft of the device makes playing feel a little clunky in comparison, but you quickly get used to it. Also, the directional shooting functionality is a little tricky because of the larger screen, but if you can't get a handle on that it's easy enough to turn off in the options.

If you love Doodle Jump, and want it on your iPad, now you can without needing to run the game with pixel doubling. Doodle Jump is still one of my favorite games, and is undoubtedly a true App Store classic, but after this kind of wait I was really hoping for more on the iPad than a (currently) exclusive race-centric theme for the multiplayer mode.

Regardless, the thought of Doodle Jump 2 has me really excited.

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Rubicon’s Great Little War Game [$.99 / UHD / UHD Lite], a turn-based delight that marries conventional micro-based troop management and action with over-the-top art direction and style, can now boast a new campaign and more skirmish maps thanks to a recent update. Dubbed “Call of Booty,” the free campaign adds ten additional levels to an already packed core offering. The skirmish levels number exactly five, which seems like a lot to us.

While that stuff is definitely the most important part of the update, it does also do this: it strips the IAP from the additional voice packages. From now until “forever,” you can grab the additional voice packs for no cost. That’s cool, right?

If you want to know a little bit more about Great Little War Game, there’s no better place than our review, which also highlighted update 1.4. In short, we liked what we played and think that this is a game for anyone who’s into turn-based strategy.

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The “Engineer Update” to Trainyard [$.99 / Free] creator Matt Rix was teasing earlier this month is out now and available as a free download for owners of the title. The big ticket item is the addition of a level editor, but the update also brings a bunch of new stuff to the table including Universal support for those of you with an iPad, Game Center, fresh puzzles, and “hundreds of other bug fixes and improvements,” according to Rix.

Focusing on the level editor for a second, you can see it in action in the video embedded just below. It looks like the natural evolution of the puzzle game that we expected it to be when we reported on the fact that the update was happening earlier this month. Games like LBP have taught me that I should never, ever try my hands at level design, but I think I’ll give this a try. Basically, I just want Matt to smile and say encouraging words to me.

Trainyard is one of those games that really took off when it was released. The really cool part of that particular story is that it’s a solid and inventive game that deserves its time in the spotlight. If you still haven’t checked it out, definitely give our review a read and see if that changes your mind.

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Two years ago today, SkyVu Pictures unleashed the original Battle Bears into the App Store, which after a series of content updates is now known as Battle Bears: Zombies! [99¢/Lite] The game was your standard fixed turret shooting gallery type of game, but what really set it apart from anything else available was its more than over-the-top wackiness. Just the opening cutscene alone let you know that you were in for a wild ride that could only have been created from the most twisted of minds. In case you’re unaware, you can watch all the cutscenes from Battle Bears: Zombies! in one handy dandy YouTube video, and it’s more than worth spending 9 minutes of your life doing.

With the success of Battle Bears: Zombies!, SkyVu went on to create a new prequel in the series called Battle Bears -1 [99¢/Lite], a fun third-person shooter which fleshed out the Battle Bears lore and offered the same style of crazy that we’ve come to know and love. Following this came an iPad-only top-down dual-stick shooter inspired by the classic Smash TV called Battle Bears Go [Free], which actually stemmed from the original prototypes of what eventually became Battle Bears -1. Finally, in mid-July, the studio released Battle Bears Blast [Free], another fixed shooter with a focus on one-handed gameplay and some fun character customization options.

What this Battle Bears history lesson is leading up to is that SkyVu have announced that their combined downloads for free and paid games across iOS and Android, as well as their suite of Battle Bears themed entertainment apps, has pushed them over the 12 million mark. No matter how you slice it, 12 million downloads is a remarkable feat. In celebration of this milestone as well as the 2 year anniversary of the original Battle Bears release, you can now grab Battle Bears Blast for free until the end of the Labor Day weekend. Battle Bears Blast is definitely a must-download while free, and I absolutely love the focus on one-handed gameplay. Make sure you grab it before the US holiday is over.

While download milestones and free games are all well and good, that’s not even the most awesome bit of Battle Bears related news I’ve got for you. Back in March, right in the midst of GDC, SkyVu announced Battle Bears Royale, a squad-based third-person shooter with online multiplayer. Battle Bears Royale will feature 6 different classes to play as, similar to games like Team Fortress 2. There is tons of additional information, screens, concept art, and more in the Battle Bears Royale forum thread, but check out this first trailer of the game in action because it is looking quite awesome:

Also, you can take a look at this super secret forbidden video that shows another few minutes of pure gameplay for Battle Bears Royale. Really impressive stuff. This easily is SkyVu’s most ambitious title yet, and I seriously can’t wait to get my hands on it. The release window is slated for this Fall, and the plan is for Battle Bears Royale to launch for free with a ton of different kinds of weapons and equipment available as in-app downloads, both free and paid. SkyVu has teamed up with Recharge Studios to co-develop Battle Bears Royale and make sure there are enough resources to fully realize such an ambitious title.

If that isn’t enough Battle Bears news to make your face melt, then I regret to tell you that I haven’t even mentioned yet another new game in the works, Wil’s Finest Hour, which will be the next entry in the single player Battle Bears storyline. Details are extremely scarce as it’s early in development, but there is a discussion thread in our forums where you can keep tabs on any new information. We’ll also be keeping our eyes out for more on Battle Bears Royale as it nears completion, and be sure to pick up Battle Bears Blast while it’s free through Monday.

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Just last week we brought you the news that several employees of the now-shuttered Bizarre Creations had formed a new studio, Hogrocket, with a new iOS property hitting the App Store in September. Well time flies, September is here and so is that title, which we're now at liberty to discuss. It's called Tiny Invaders [$3.99] and it's a quest to take over humanity — from the inside out.

In Tiny Invaders you control microscopic aliens who are here to dominate the human race. To take on such a gargantuan task they delve into the bloodstream of the first person they find, a hick stereotype that just so happens to be in the path of their crash landing. Once inside his body they race through his bloodstream, collecting his white blood cells (or so I assume his "human orbs" to be) and infecting him piece by piece.

The target for infection has systems of veins and arteries laid out as tracks. The invaders automatically travel along those tracks, following the path of least resistance. The player has two pieces of input: switching the track to make the invaders take a different path, and tapping them to make them travel faster.

That doesn't sound like much to keep on top of, but it's enough that the game eventually becomes entirely overwhelming. Each level is ranked with time limits, and to earn the top honors you'll need to plan carefully and execute efficiently. The levels become increasingly devilish, wrapping track over track in intricate knots. Getting through the early levels is simple enough, though finding the perfect route to slip in under the time limit is always delightfully difficult. In later levels, however, all bets are off.

As you make your way through Tiny Invaders' 60 levels, you'll run into all manner of things to hinder or assist your progress. The first is the glowing orb: when brought back to your base, this creates a new invader. To earn the best completion times you'll need to think carefully about how to claim those orbs on your first pass. Then come the enemies, who travel along tracks just like your invaders do. Precise timing is required to keep your invaders slipping past them instead of slamming into them.

Then the going gets really tough. Later levels are littered with gadgets that will speed up any critters that pass by, or clone them, or teleport them. These affect foes as well as friends, so staying safe becomes harder than ever. With all of these elements in place, Tiny Invaders strikes a great balance — you'll need to plan your route out in advance and then react quickly to the changing environment.

This is where Tiny Invaders excels, but it's also where the game falters. I appreciate its dedication to one-touch controls, but there have been moments where I've wanted to throw my phone in frustration as the game made a seemingly arbitrary choice between speeding up my invaders, speeding up the enemy units and swapping a track. The death of your invaders holds no serious consequences, but when you're aiming for three stars and an imprecise tap gums up the works it can be a bit irritating. At least the reset button is just a tap away and every level can be skipped freely, so no irritation is too lasting.

Beyond the occasional muddled input, Tiny Invaders is an excellent debut from the folks at Hogrocket. Its puzzles are infused with such urgency that you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat, mashing reset to take one more shot at beating the timer. But speed is no excuse to get sloppy — you'll need to think several steps ahead to master each level. It's a great pairing of action and puzzle, one that deserves your time and attention. If, on the other hand, you think the price is just too darn high, I'm sure you'll find people to commiserate with in our discussion thread.

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