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Another day, another endless progress game. Appicus's Cave Mice [$1.99] is a charmer, though, with a striking visual style and a few tricks up its proverbial sleeve.

In Cave Mice, you control Theseus Tilsit, a brave mouse tasked with recovering the cheese collection of his family of mice. Since the cheese has fallen into deep caverns below their home, Theseus must travel ever-downwards on a rickety platform connected to a thin string. The slightest bump sends his little gondola flying to pieces, so you need to carefully tilt your device to avoid the obstacles.

As he travels downwards, the obstacles become increasingly aggressive. Aside from the usual denizens of the spaces under homes — spiders, bats, hypnotic toads wearing military hats — strange things are out to get him. There is evidence of a feline conspiracy, but where did they get the dirigibles? Things get mysterious under the ground.

To defend himself, Theseus has options. He can tilt out of the way, but if he bumps into a platform or hits a wall too hard, he's toast. He can also toss cheese at the enemies that come for him, and he can access cheese bombs. He collects the cheese as he drops, and you can swipe to throw pieces of it as a weapon. But when you inevitably crash poor Theseus into something you are scored by how far you traveled and how many pieces of cheese are in your possession, so be aware that you're firing from your eventual score.

Where Cave Mice diverges slightly from the typical endless formula is in its challenge system. When you reach a depth of 200, and every few hundred after that, the game throws a challenge at you. Fireballs might drop from the sky, spiders may show up every few seconds, and so on. Surviving that section nets you progress toward one of the challenges, which are also the game's Game Center achievements. Like the cave layout, the challenges are random, so you can expect a different experience each time you play. The challenges allow you to make progress in the game even if you don't beat your high score.

There are a few ways I'd like to see the game tweaked before I could wholeheartedly recommend it. In some ways the game is too hard — the gondala will collapse if you so much as brush past a platform, and when there's also a volcano on it spitting out fireballs, you're going to have a hard time finding a safe place to pass through. And yet Cave Mice is somehow too slow as well, especially for those first 200 meters. The powerups are few and far between — finding crazy powerups is a huge part of the fun of most endless games, and they could add some much-needed variety here.

Cave Mice does most other things very well. I adore the art — even the menu is great, and Theseus's animations as he peers around the cave are charming. And the physics of the gondola feel quite natural, swinging as you tilt just as you'd expect – until, of course, you brush against a platform and it goes flying off like a bomb exploded. This is a great foundation for a game that could be fantastic with a few small tweaks. I'm also curious to see if Appicus has anything else planned for these mice, given the obvious care that went into designing characters that only appear in the background of this game.

If you also find yourself charmed by the little guys, give Cave Mice a try, and be sure to stop by our discussion thread and post your impressions.

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One of my favorite genres is the adventure genre, since I was brought up on games like Shadowgate, Zork and Myst. So I admit that before even starting Cryptic Keep [$1.99], I was already rubbing my hands together in anticipation over the idea of it. A deserted castle? Stubborn puzzles to solve? Mysterious music? Why, maybe there would even be the useless combining of items that make no sense together! Wait, what's the appeal of this genre again?

All jokes aside, though, Cryptic Keep looked like a possibly watered down, but still interesting adventure title. You begin the game at the doors of a great castle which was locked down by a royal old dude named King Telvonus, but of course, the Sword of Ire is inside (why he would leave it there instead of taking it on his journey for protection is anyone's guess), and its up to you to get it. Ah, flimsy iOS stories, how do we love thee? Or rather, how do we ignore thee as we barrel past you in favor of the gameplay.

Cryptic Keep is first person, and it operates in traditional adventure style. Rather than clicking a mouse to explore your surroundings, a tap of your finger will get you where you need to go. The game has no NPCs at all, so all of your travels will be solo. However, this lends to the mysterious feeling of the game, and I rather liked it. Now, of course no keep has unlocked doors, so to even get inside you'll have to start solving puzzles right off the bat. You have a small inventory bar on the bottom of your screen where items you pick up will go, and you'll need to decide how to use these items in your environment to make progress. What do those runes on the anvil mean? Why is there a frozen skeleton standing in the courtyard? All this and more awaits you as you wander this castle and wonder why Telvonus ever left in the first place.

One thing that bears mentioning is the load screens. It sometimes taks five seconds or more once you click a direction for the next screen to load, and let me tell you, for an iPhone game, that seems long. This is one of the downfalls of Cryptic Keep, and I admit it got under my skin after a while. There's no way those three footsteps took that long, you know?

The other thing about the game that I wasn't crazy about was that the puzzles were rarely a real challenge (although I did mention I cut my teeth on much harder game in this genre, so maybe I'm a harsh critic). The game itself is very short, and finishing it in one sitting is a pretty straightforward task. The developer has promised more puzzles in a future update, but it's good to know before you buy that your $1.99 may buy you an hour of gameplay, maybe two at most if you're not much of a puzzle solver and you get stuck here or there.

Cryptic Keep is good, but not great. For adventure fans looking for a fix, it may provide some entertainment, but there's something about it that feels a bit generic. That being said, I can't say I didn't enjoy going back into adventure mode to solve some puzzles and make my way into the heart of a mysterious castle. Perhaps it's just nostalgia knocking at my door, but despite its flaws, I felt that Cryptic Keep still had a good amount of fun to offer.

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Yesterday we were blown away by Griffin's upcoming $49.99 HELO TC iOS-controlled helicopter, for a number of good reasons. First off, it's a sixth of the price of the Parrot AR.Drone and the announcement was accompanied by an awesome video which I'll embed again just for fun:

Initially, I was under the incorrect assumption that this was going to be a two horse race between Parrot and Griffin for iOS real-world aerial superiority, but boy was I wrong. As it turns out, there's quite a few options already in existence that you can order today in a variety of different sizes and price points.

Almost immediately after posting the HELO TC article, I was emailed by Gerard Nieuwenhuis who runs iHelicopters.net who told me about his variety of ready to ship helicopters that use a similar free app to control them. The main difference being, instead of requiring AA batteries to power the IR transmitter, the iHelicopter transmitter is powered by rechargeable batteries.

There's even a Kickstarter-funded option, iRemoco which similarly uses its own app. Crazier yet, infamous Chinese-knockoff seller DealExtreme even has a whole array of their own iOS-choppers.

There's not much variance in the pricing between iHelicopters, iRemoco, Griffin, and DealExtreme, so I think we're going to need to do an (entirely unexpected) iOS-controlled helicopter shootout to really determine who is the king of the App Store air space. Who knew such a seemingly specific product would have such a crowded marketplace?

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Despite both noble and ignoble efforts, the real time strategy genre has never managed to find much traction outside of PC/Mac gaming. The micromanagement required to succeed in these games just screams for the speed and precision of a mouse. This hasn’t stopped developers from trying to awkwardly force RTS gameplay into console controller or touch inputs, however. While they struggle bravely on, it may ironically be a game that never attempted to tackle the problem at all that actually provides a vital clue to answering the riddle.

When Majesty: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim [$2.99] first released back in 2000 for PC and Mac, the game was praised for its unique take on the genre. The game featured all the base building, resource gathering, and upgrade grinding that a fan of RTSs at the time could hope for, while streamlining unit management by making all heroes and henchmen autonomous. As it turns out, the iOS port of Majesty demonstrates that it may make far more sense to tailor RTS gameplay to fit the unique inputs of a platform than the other way around.

So, you’re the heir to a monarch who went insane and let the kingdom go to hell in an archaic handbasket. As the new king, it’s up to you to set things right; the realm is overrun with goblins and undead and, of course, rats. While they never say it to your face, the gameplay implies that the heroes and citizens of your demesne are less than confident in your leadership qualities due to your shaky genetic background. Instead of taking direct orders from you regarding specific objectives, they act independently and must be bribed and persuaded to take action on your behalf.

What’s a king without obedient vassals to do? Spend money, of course. Each level begins with your castle and a set amount of gold coin to pay for buildings. Pay for a warrior or mage guild, and you’ll be able to recruit heroes. Blacksmiths, libraries, and the like provide access to upgrades that your heroes will take advantage of as they wander by. Marketplaces speed up your gold intake while opening up magic items like healing potions and rings of protection to be bought by units. A respectable variety of different building types, upgrade trees, and prerequisites gives a great deal of room for experimentation and tweaking for optimal performance.

You may have control over the type and placement of buildings, but when it comes to the heroes, they have their own set of priorities. If their guild or a nearby building in the town is attacked by enemies, they will reluctantly emerge to do battle. Barring an attack, their next course of action is to make the rounds and pick up any items or upgrades from buildings that weren’t available the last time they donned their slippers and swords. These lazy bastards simply don’t get out of bed unless they are under siege or they hear the clinks of a brimming gold pouch.

While heroes will occasionally get a wild hair up their breeches and decide to explore or attack enemies on their own, the fastest way to get things done is to dangle the cash carrot. You can place a waypoint over an enemy structure or unexplored area of the map and attach a bounty to it. The larger the reward, the more likely it is that heroes will wander away from the comforts of home to get rich or die trying. For those who have never played the original, this lack of direct control will drive some gamers crazy. As for myself, I occasionally muttered about how it was hard to find good help these days, but for the most part I found it extremely liberating.

While the game’s core conceit survives the transition to iPhone/iPad famously, that’s not to say that this port handles all things touchscreen with equal grace. Positioning of buildings and waypoints is occasionally troublesome, as is the targeting of your spells. The user interface is also unfriendly. Spells are denoted by icon only, so determining the function and efficacy of your arcane arsenal is problematic. The fact that the game is universal is nice, but ye olde ugly font that is readable on my iPad is much trickier to decipher on an iPhone screen. Playing with the larger device is recommended for those with the option.

Majesty’s focus on building and bounties as primary game mechanics eliminates the clicks-per-minute pressure of most RTS titles that simply doesn’t translate to a touch screen. The result is more fun and less frustration. If this had been a new title built specifically for iOS, I would have called it a stroke of genius. As it is, I’ll have to call it a pleasant serendipity. Not too frantic and not too dumbed down, the port just seems to fit. I’d love to see other developers look at this game and make the mechanic a deliberate iOS design choice.

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One of our very favorite not-a-game-itself-but-is-still-gaming-related apps in the App Store is Zell Application’s Joypad Game Controller [Free]. We reviewed the Joypad this past February, and in short it turns your iOS device into a customizable virtual control pad for playing games on your computer. You just run the app on your device and then it very easily connects to a desktop client on your computer over Bluetooth or a local WiFi network. You’re then free to map the virtual buttons of the Joypad to the keyboard controls of whatever game you’re playing, or choose from the many preset configurations, and just like that you’ve got yourself a competent little game controller.

Naturally, it’s not quite the same as having a physical controller, but if you like to travel light or find yourself needing to get your game on in a pinch it more than does the trick. Heck, I use the Joypad exclusively to play old emulators on my laptop simply because it works really well and I’m too lazy to bust out my USB controller. Ah, technology, always facilitating my laziness.

Anyway, back at WWDC this year I sat down with Zell Applications who explained how they had just released a Joypad SDK, which anyone can use to add native Joypad support in games on both desktop computers and iOS devices. We first saw this officially in action with the platformer Lars [$1.99/Lite], and recently the Mac App Store version of Mos Speedrun [$2.99] was updated with Joypad support, too. No need to pair the Joypad app with desktop software with these, rather just fire up either game along with the Joypad app on your device and everything just works, and it rocks.

During that WWDC meeting, Zell also revealed that the Joypad would be getting some retro skins packs in the near future, and that update has just hit the App Store. As you may know, Joypad was originally a paid app when it launched in March of last year, but in order to entice more people to use it the developers launched a separate free version back in January. As a way to support their efforts and put food in their bellies, the new retro skins are being sold for 99¢ each, or you can grab all 8 of them in a pack for $5.99 and save a couple of bucks.

Both versions of Joypad are functionally identical, but if you already owned the original paid version, which is now called Joypad Elite, then you’ll get the entire 8 pack of retro skins included for free with the update. The skins are beautiful and feature 8 of the most classic console controllers ever, and are perfect for getting the full effect when playing with emulators. Also, inside of the in-app shop there is now a list of Joypad compatible games. So far there is built in support for Lars, Super Mega Worm [99¢/Lite], Emerald Mine [Free], and Mos Speedrun for Mac. Upcoming supported games will include Meganoid [$1.99], Arcade Jumper, 8-bit Rally [99¢], and Marathon [Free].

Finally, inside the store there is a link to order the Fling Mini, another cool control peripheral that we took a look at during WWDC and works really well in conjunction with the Joypad app. As a bonus, if you use the in-app link to order the Fling Mini then you’ll get 10% off the regular price. Not a bad little deal at all.

In case you couldn’t tell, I get pretty stoked talking about the Joypad. I just can’t help it. It’s clever, it works surprisingly well, and it's completely free to use. I actually game way more on my laptop since discovering the Joypad than I ever did before. It’s just really convenient. If you haven’t yet tried out Joypad for yourself, give it a download, you’ve got nothing to lose except your dependence on a dedicated physical gamepad.

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We originally planned to describe Roping Rob [99c] as a "hook-throwing platform game", because modern gamers are familiar with that genre, thanks to popular titles like Super Quick Hook [$2.99 / Review]. However, according to the game description from developers, Wehaveapp, you're actually carrying a harpoon, so let's call it a "harpooning-platform game", which is technically accurate, but not quite as catchy.

The game opens with a background story, which does a great job of setting the context for the game-play. The 'Robs' are little creatures who work at the center of the Earth, where they ensure the core is constantly stable, hot and fluid. However, one of the Robs is defiant and wants to travel, to check out the Earth's surface. This game follows his journey through the Earth, with levels starting at the inner core and moving through the molten outer core, the lower and upper mantle and eventually to the crust, as he ventures to the Earth's surface.

I've always enjoyed games which take you on a journey, like the classic Gyruss (1983) where you progress through the planets in our solar system. Roping Rob uses this approach well, with each chapter being graphically depicted as a different environment, based on the Earth's layered geological structure. As you play, you're always very aware of your proximity to the surface, which encourages you to keep playing.

There's over thirty levels to complete, which is accomplished by locating and entering the glowing exit in each one.  As always, there's a range of obstacles along the way, including rotating platforms, spring-boards, barriers and buttons. You'll need to harpoon through small gaps and even use a massive drill to dig through the Earth. You'll have to dodge spikes, rolling boulders and poisonous fumes, to be successful in this platform game.

The gameplay controls are minimalistic, with no buttons or virtual pad. You simply tap the screen to throw your harpoon in that direction, and tap again to release it. Once your harpoon is impaled in a roof or wall, it automatically retracts, pulling you towards it.  You can either let yourself be pulled right up to the harpoon, or else let go to throw yourself in that direction while you have momentum.  There's no left or right walking, just harpooning.

This game is made using GameSalad, which often leads to a couple of knee-jerk negative comments, but it's best to judge a game based on it's own merits, regardless of which tools are used to develop it. Who cares how a game is made, providing it's challenging and fun. And this game is both of those things.  Although, there are a couple of minor gripes. Some loading delays occur at the start of levels, the screen sometimes changes orientation unexpectedly, or won't change orientation at all, and the sound effects can become annoying, such as the constant metallic *clang* of the harpoon. And Level 16 is actually impossible to complete, but the developers already have a fix for this, which was just released in an update, so the Rob CAN reach the surface!

High scores are stored (in-game) for each level, including time, number of harpoons used and number of tries.  However, the number of tries is showing as "1" for each level, despite attempting one nasty level many, many times. Also, there's a space for the total stats to be displayed, but that area is blank, presumably mistakenly. These issues have also been ironed out in the just-released update.

Roping Rob is a simple game, with basic yet strangely appealing graphics. There's a fair amount of entertainment provided, with replay value if you choose to better your own level completion times.  The big question is – what happens when the Rob finally reaches the surface?

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In early June, Capcom did what many gamers had been clamoring for ever since the App Store opened and released a Monster Hunter game for iOS called Monster Hunter Dynamic Hunting [$1.99]. Unfortunately, this was not a proper Monster Hunter title like the others in the ridiculously popular series, but rather a collection of single battles against many of the monsters from previous iterations of the game.

However, if you were cool with it not being your typical Monster Hunter game, there was actually a lot to like about Monster Hunter Dynamic Hunting. It used a gesture-based combat system similar to Infinity Blade [$5.99], though much more mechanical and less organic, and featured a respectable amount of armor and weapon upgrading that kept you engaged throughout the many battles. The game was even improved further by an update in early July that added a “Real Hunt” mode which basically let you play through the game over again with a highly increased difficulty after beating it the first time.

Today, Capcom has once again pushed out an update for Monster Hunter Dynamic Hunting which adds a new weapon, the hammer, into the mix. It also adds 4 new monsters to take on, which is always a welcome addition. Finally, there are some new customizable weapon and armor pieces to suit up your character with. Perhaps best of all is that to celebrate this update the price has dropped more than half to $1.99.

I’ve had more fun with Monster Hunter Dynamic Fighting than I ever expected, and members in our forums are pretty fond of it as well. It’s actually a really solid little title as long as your expectations aren’t for a full-fledged Monster Hunter game, and if you’ve been on the fence about it I’d recommend checking it out for the sale price and with the bonus goodies that have come from the past two updates.

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Around this time last year, we were just about to get our hands on the Parrot AR.Drone quadricopter. It was (and still is) an incredibly cool remote control toy with some seriously advanced technology onboard that allows for control of the craft via an iOS device complete with a video feed captured from cameras onboard the AR.Drone all connected through a WiFi network served up by the quadricopter itself. Parrot later even expanded the AR.Drone's functionality to include a few different games that utilized the cameras in interesting ways.

Unfortunately, all of this tech came with a hefty price tag. $299.99 to be exact which put the AR.Drone far outside of impulse purchase range for most. Thankfully, acclaimed accessory manufacturer Griffin took note that people thought things like the AR.Drone are cool as hell, while building a similar product with a price point that falls comfortably inside "eh, what the hell" territory which I really think is vital for any gadgety toy.

Check out the HELO TC in action:

Griffin has taken a unique angle with the HELO TC and has made several obvious cost-cutting measures to hit that key $50 price point. First off, the HELO TC obviously lacks all the flight stabilization logic that powered the AR.Drone. The AR.Drone basically flies itself, while the HELO TC seems to be very similar to the barebones remote control helicopters that you can pick up for around $20 online, which leads me to believe that flying the HELO TC with the finesse seen in the above video is going to be very difficult.

Similarly, all of the WiFi connectivity options found in the AR.Drone have been replaced by a transmitter that clips on to your iOS device and plugs into your headphone jack. This takes AA batteries, and utilizing the free companion app sends tones out your headphone port to an IR transmitter, a technique that has been well documented and used by hobbyists to essentially create a playlist of sounds to do things like control a digital SLR camera, or in this case, fly a helicopter.

Of course Griffin hasn't mentioned the specifics of how the HELO TC works, so this is largely just a series of educated guesses on my part, but the logic seems sound. Either way, we're totally stoked for the device. I had a ton of fun with the AR.Drone, and it seems like the HELO TC should be equally fun, only for a sixth of the price.

For more information, check out the HELO TC web site, or if you're totally sold on the device swing over to the Griffin store to pre-order. No specific release dates have been mentioned yet, although the PR Griffin blasted out this morning repeatedly mentions the holiday season. It seems every year the window for what the "holiday season" actually is broadens even wider, so we could be seeing the HELO TC sooner than we expect. I've got my fingers crossed, at least.

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Digital Chocolate, the social games publisher probably best known for getting legally rowdy with Zynga over the Mafia Wars name, has just acquired Sandlot Games, the studio responsible for Cake Mania and an assortment of other weird social or casual flings. This news comes on the heels of tons of various other acquisitions in the social space. EA’s moves are the most notable due to the sheer size and scale, but other publishers are snagging dudes up with the quickness as the social digital social games market emerges into a substantial force.

In a press release, Digital Chocolate made this move sound like it was an attempt to expand into social and expand its own development team.

“Sandlot has built a great reputation in casual games,” Trip Hawkins, CEO of Digital Chocolate said in a statement. “We love their development teams and we can now expand further in Seattle and Eastern Europe. We expect to be the leading game company in at least 5 of the 7 cities where we now have development studios.”

Our take on this is, simply, that it’s definitely a funky market right now. We have big publishers like Zynga and EA scooping up whatever has a decent name attached to it, while others like Warner Bros, Activision, or THQ are shuttering studios right and left. Economic unease and the fact the gaming landscape is indeed changing are certainly factors in these developments, but we're a little to close to it all to see how everything is shaking up. We wonder how we’ll look back at 2011 once everything settles.

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It's no secret to anyone that the App Store is crammed with word games — they're hard to miss. Considering how simplistic the genre is and how it appeals to such a wide variety of different types of gamers, it's no surprise everyone wants to make the word game that people can't seem to stop playing. To do that, you either have to execute the original formula very well, or find a way to give it a twist. With DooWaru [99¢/Lite], it's the latter, and I'm happy to report that the experiment was a great success.

As with most word games, DooWaru makes it simple to jump right in and play. You'll start off with a grid of letters and a field up top which acts simultaneously as the space where the words you type appear and as the button you submit your word with. Your score racks up in the bottom right corner, and your time ticks away in the bottom left. As you successfully spell words, you fill up a progress bar at the top, and once it's full, you've completed a level. It's all standard, actually … so what's the twist?

What makes things get all wacky is that the letters in the grid are on 3D blocks. And they rotate and reveal new letters. Oh, you think to yourself, I get it … I just have to think a bit faster! And then as soon as you get that learning curve down, the blocks start to speed up. Soon enough, two new blocks are introduced: one that blows up the blocks surrounding it, and one that freezes them. You can tap the latter whenever you like to buy yourself a few moments to think, but you can't control the bomb blocks, only race to beat them before they blow up that letter that you need. When I tell you that by the time you pass level ten you're going to have to be quick to spell anything longer than three or four letters, believe it. This is where the challenge and the fun come in. Think fast!

There's also an additional mode called Quick Play that gives you two minutes to spell as many words as you can, and adds a few precious seconds to the clock for each word you spell. Whether you play in this mode or in arcade mode, the game keeps track of your scores, so you can aim to beat your own scores or those of others if you like (no Game Center compatibility though – boo!).

DooWaru is very simple, but what it does, it does very well. I found that I enjoyed it more than most word games I play because the constantly changing board gave me more options. Sure, you have to learn to play fast because of the bombs, but I also found myself coming up with more creative, longer words because I had a large board to choose from, and if the letter I needed to complete a word wasn't there when I needed it, it might turn up in a second or two once the board changed again. It also didn't increase in difficulty to the point where it became frustrating, offering accessible gameplay  that I imagine a wide range of people could get down with.

The only negative thing I can say about DooWaru is about the music. It's some sort of frenzied Indian melody that sounds as if you've stumbled into a bad Bollywood video and repeats over and over, and it doesn't fit the game at all. Luckily, you can hop in the menu and turn it off with a single tap. Unless you're into the whole Bollywood thing, that is, and then maybe you can practice your belly dancing in circles around the kitchen while you get your spell on.

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