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We recently posted screenshots and details of the upcoming turn-based strategy puzzler Stoneship in an exclusive granted us by Cyan Worlds. Today, the studio pointed us to a brief video they have posted that provides a look at the game in action.

The upcoming Stoneship: The Curse of a Thousand Islands represents "a lighthearted new direction" for Cyan Worlds, the studio indicates. The game is a casual, top-down, turn-based, strategy puzzle game "with a bent toward the whimsical," we're told. Stoneship sets you and your first mate on the high seas, charged with exploring, controlling, and protecting vast oceans and islands, under continual threat of a pirate siege. There are eighty three included levels to play through, with additional levels to come later via update.

Cyan tells us that the game is nearly complete, but that they are considering slightly delaying its release in order to integrate Apple's GameCenter functionality, what with the iPhone-maker's recent announcement that we will see its arrival in the upcoming iOS 4.1. If GameCenter integration does not make it into the initial release of Stoneship, it will join a planned update that includes additional maps and other gameplay features.

Stay tuned for a close look at Stoneship: The Curse of a Thousand Islands we'll be posting as soon as we have the game in hand.

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I can't think of a better way to come down off a post-keynote afterglow than a bundle of freebies to download. The standard free game disclaimer is in effect here in that nearly all of these free promotions are for a limited time, and while they are all free as of this writing, they can return to paid at any time. If any of these games sound interesting to you, it's probably better to download them sooner rather than later. And of course, as always, for a full listing of paid games that went free, stop by AppShopper.

Hoggy, Free A cute puzzle platformer that we enjoyed quite a bit in our review. Hoggy comes loaded with an oodle of levels to complete but if the game leaves you wanting more, there’s even a 99¢ DLC level pack to download.

Veggie Samurai, Free The war between whether Veggie Samurai or Fruit Ninja [99¢] is the better game has been waging on our forums for quite some time now. Here's your chance to download one of them for free to see for yourself.

Rebirth of Fortune, Free Heavily influenced by Tactics Ogre and Final Fantasy Tactics, this strategy RPG seems to have a surprising amount of depth. The graphics are great, and there’s even local multiplayer.

bitFLIP HD: Intense Puzzle Action, Free The iPhone version of bitFlip [99¢] is still a paid app, but if you've got an iPad make sure to grab this cool multi-layered puzzle game. It even has single device multiplayer which is a lot of fun if you've got someone else to play with.

Irritating Game, Free The iPhone port of a free Flash game with the same name. In Irritating Game you have to deal with two balls that move independent of each other on two different paddles. As promised, gameplay is irritating, but oddly appealing.

Fayju Ball, Free An incredibly cool puzzle game where you must roll balls of different colors in to matching holes. What blew my mind the first time I played the game was that some of these puzzles require you to hold the phone upside down to mall the ball roll towards the screen. Definitely give this one a try.

TowerMadness™, Free This game has already been free a few times already, so here’s your chance to grab it if you missed it before. Tower Madness is a free open-field tower defense game with a bunch of maps, endless mode, 9 towers with 5 upgrades each, and additional level packs available via DLC.

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A couple of weeks ago, we had a chance to get some hands-on time with the iPhone and iPad version of Puzzle Agent from Telltale Games. The story of FBI puzzle detective Nelson Tethers was coming together nicely for the iOS devices, and now the game is finally available. Puzzle Agent succeeds beautifully in the art style and story departments, but falls a little flat with the actual gameplay offered. If you go into Puzzle Agent expecting a robust puzzle game with a lot of content and replayability, you'll likely be disappointed. However, if you're looking for an excellent mystery to solve with humorous characters and an interesting plot, you'll find a lot to enjoy about the overall experience of Puzzle Agent.

The game starts with Nelson sitting at his desk in the FBI headquarters. You can tell he doesn't see a whole lot of action, as he is surprised to receive a phone call asking him to go on an assignment in the field. The eraser factory in Scoggins, Minnesota has ceased production, and thus been unable to supply the White House with their required allotment of erasers. All inquiries as to what the problem is at the eraser factory have resulted in odd puzzle-related responses from the townsfolk in Scoggins, making Nelson the perfect candidate to have investigate the situation. You'll travel to Scoggins to question people, solve puzzles, and uncover a twisted tale of what has gone awry at the eraser factory.

Puzzle Agent functions similar to other point-and-click adventure games, giving you a scene with various interactive elements to investigate. A circle will emanate from wherever you touch on the screen, and an icon will show up within that circle if something can be interacted with. I love this mechanic as it allows me to easily check an entire area for clues without tapping on every square inch of the screen. Talking with characters in the game is definitely the high point of Puzzle Agent. Each character is fully voiced and has multiple points of conversation to engage in. The amount of personality and humor that the characters exude through the dialogue is phenomenal, and playing through Puzzle Agent is analogous to watching a well crafted animated film. The art style is also very pleasing, featuring the minimalist hand drawn style of Graham Annable who created the Grickle comics and animated shorts.

iPad screenshots (click to enlarge):

The actual puzzles you'll be solving in Puzzle Agent are a mixed bag. Some are interesting, intuitive, and fun while others are just plain awkward and frustrating. Many times it's just not clear what you are supposed to be doing in a given puzzle. A hint system is in place in case you get stuck, so it never really prevents you from progressing, but it can be annoying to spend time trying to solve a difficult puzzle with trial and error when you are immersed in the story. Another frustration with Puzzle Agent is the controls. The game is designed very well for touch screen, but the actual responsiveness when touching or dragging items is not so great. It feels like the game is optimized for the mouse and cursor of the Mac/PC version, and using the larger surface of a fingertip doesn't afford the precision needed to perform some of the basic actions in the game.

There also isn't much reason to go back and play the game once you've beaten it, as the puzzles and story don't change. One important point to bring up is that Puzzle Agent looks far better on the iPad than it does on the iPhone. Many of the textures are blurry and show signs of artifacting, and are a far cry from the App Store screen shots that look like they are optimized for Retina Display.  This leads me to believe that it's just a bug with the release version that doesn't allow it to display the game in the proper resolution, although I have yet to confirm this. It doesn't completely ruin the game, but it is a significant distraction. The iPad version doesn't seem to exhibit this problem, and hopefully the issue gets rectified with the iPhone version soon.

Even with these issues, Puzzle Agent is still a really enjoyable experience. And that's what it really boils down to – it's better served as an exceptional entertainment experience rather than an exceptional game. The art style, music, voice acting, and story are incredibly well done, but the controls and puzzles are pretty hit and miss. If you're looking for something akin to an enjoyable interactive movie, Puzzle Agent serves this purpose really well.

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Big name developers just love setting their iTunes Connect release dates to Thursdays. Every week around this time we start seeing new releases slowly pop up in international markets, then filter out to the rest of the world as the Earth spins and it slowly becomes Thursday across the planet. This week is no different, and tonight at 11:00 PM EST all of the following games will be available for download in the US App Store. (Or even sooner if you're east of us.)

Mirror's Edge for iPhone, $4.99 – We first previewed this game in late 2009, and spent months wondering when it was going to be released. We found our answer as Mirror's Edge for iPad [$9.99] landed on the App Store as an iPad-only launch title for Apple's (then) new device. Back in April we thought it was inevitable that the game would be released for the iPhone yet, but we never suspected it would take nearly six months to happen.

Here's the gameplay video we shot from our preview last year:

From my brief time with Mirror's Edge on the iPhone, it plays just the same as the iPad version and is seemingly identical to the preview we did before of the iPhone version. Mirror's Edge for the iPhone comes packed with Retina Display friendly graphics and looks outstanding on the iPhone 4.

Puzzle Agent, $4.99 / HD – We had some hands-on time with this game not too long ago, and it's definitely something any fan of Professor Layton style games needs to pick up. In the game you play as Nelson Tethers, an agent of the FBI Puzzle Research Division and need to investigate the happenings of an eraser factory in Minnesota.

Puzzle Agent has already been released for the PC on Steam, and has been well received by most gamers. We thought it was a decent port in our preview, but we're going to spend more time with it to see if that still holds true as we get deeper than a brief preview allows.

Other potentially noteworthy games being released tonight include two new offerings from Namco who apparently have no problem juicing poor old Pac Man for all he's worth. PAC-CHAIN [$4.99] is an action puzzle game for the iPad where you tap groups of similarly colored ghosts from the game board with all kinds of Pac Man themed power-ups. Their other release tonight is Mishap [$4.99] a hidden object game for the iPhone that at least looks slightly intriguing with the inclusion of mini-games.

Finally, there's a new Chillingo iPad game on the verge of being released. Lamp of Aladdin [$4.99] is another hidden object game, but the matching mini-game looks like it could be interesting and there's something about the above trailer that's oddly alluring.

We're going to spend the day playing through as many of these games as possible, and like every Wednesday, plan on having reviews available by the time the games appear for download in the US App Store.

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It's hard for us to say enough good things about Halfbrick's Monster Dash [99¢] and Ratloop's Helsing's Fire [99¢]. One game takes the running right forever gameplay formula that's become so popular, spices it up, and adds weaponry. The other is an incredibly unique puzzle game which is unlike anything we've played on the iPhone, a claim that's almost impossible to make with puzzle games. Both games have received recent updates, so be sure to download them if you haven't already.

Monster Dash now comes packed with an additional power-up for Barry to pick up, a motorcycle that makes you temporary invincible while riding it. Along with the motorcycle comes new motorcycle-related stat tracking and achievements as well. Halfbrick also made some fixes and other tweaks to the game such as fixing heart placement so they're a little easier to pick up. Best of all, this update just shows that they're committed to supporting the game much like Fruit Ninja [99¢ / HD] which has also been host to several great updates.

Helsing's Fire 1.2 adds an entirely new campaign to play through, a new character, a new enemy, additional puzzle mechanics, and even a cool online system where you can solve puzzles for bounties to compete against other players online. The new campaign also comes with an additional survival arena, and you can now replay, save, and share puzzles you've played in the past.

If you still don't own these games, we have overwhelmingly positive reviews for both Monster Dash and Helsing's Fire that you should check out. The two games combined would probably be the best $1.98 you'll spend today, but if you already own them, be sure to mash your update button in iTunes as soon as possible.

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Last week, in a post featuring new screenshots from the upcoming iPhone version of Riven from Cyan Worlds, we pointed to clues of a new, previously unheard of forthcoming title spotted on the studio's website. At the time, all we saw of Stoneship was an ad banner commanding, "Never let your timbers be shivered!" and a tiny screenshot. Today, Cyan shared with Touch Arcade exclusive details and screenshots to help give readers a feel for what Stoneship is all about.

The upcoming Stoneship represents "a lighthearted new direction" for Cyan Worlds, the studio indicates. The game is a casual, top-down, turn-based, strategy puzzle game "with a bent toward the whimsical," we're told. The game sets you and your first mate on the high seas, charged with exploring, controlling, and protecting vast oceans and islands, under continual threat of a pirate siege. There are eighty three included levels to play through, with additional levels to come later, it appears.

Granted, there's still room for gameplay specifics and other details on this one, but what we've got does paint an overall picture. And the screenshots provided us should help flesh out that picture, further.

Cyan plans to submit Stoneship to Apple in the next few weeks and, as well, confirms that Riven for the iPhone is still on track for a release this fall. We expect to post a full review of Stoneship coincidental with its release in the App Store. Stay tuned.

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First time iPhone developer vol-2 just released their inaugural game on the App Store this afternoon. No, Human [$1.99] is a physics-based puzzle game set in space which begins with an amusing conversation between the humans proclaiming they will conquer the universe and the universe simply responding "Oh really?" From there, you're walked through a brief tutorial which explains that in order to rid space of humans, you must flick fireballs at various satellites, space stations, and/or rockets to clear each level.

50 levels are included, and as you progress through the basic levels you eventually come across targets that have shields which must be hit twice to destroy. Further on, you come across asteroids in space with their own gravitational push or pull that must be intelligently used to arc or repel fireballs along with others that have to be ignited by existing flaming fireballs before they can be flicked. Gameplay is basic and fairly linear with most levels only having one viable solution. Also, playing through all 50 levels only took me (and others on our forums) less than an hour.

But neither the short play time or simple gameplay kept me from enjoying the game one bit. In fact, I'd say it's one of the better physics-based puzzlers I've played recently because it's just dripping with minimalistic style. Each level has a clever title which oftentimes is a vague hint for how you should complete the level. At the end you're met with an equally witty remark fitting the theme of purging the universe of humans which persists through every aspect of the game.

You could easily complain about the length of the game, the limited replay value, the extremely basic implementation of online scoring, and a number of other things. However, it isn't often that I come across an iPhone game that I enjoyed enough that I played from start to finish in one marathon session. I almost like that No, Human plays this way, as it feels like an oddly complete experience. The game doesn't drag on long enough for you to get tired of it, and instead I just found myself saying "Wow, that was cool" as I completed the 50th level and my overall score was displayed.

No, Human satisfies quite a few things from my checklist of what I like to see in iPhone games as well in that it does a good job of resuming when you quit the game, it's universal, and even looks great on the Retina Display of my iPhone 4. The developer is active in our forums, and the web site even mentions a potential expansion pack in the works.

If physics puzzle games are your thing, this isn't a game you want to miss.

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Tonight, the folks at Team Phobic released a video of their next App Store installment, the forthcoming game GravBot. If you aren't familiar with Team Phobic, they are most well known for the excellent platforming games Bounce On [$1.99/Lite] and Bounce On 2: Drallo's Demise [$3.99/Lite], as well as the collaborative effort with Backflip Studios on the colorful tunnel shooter aptly named Tunnel Shoot [99¢]. This new game will be a physics-based puzzle-platformer with an emphasis on manipulating gravity to navigate levels filled with switches, buttons, elevators, and traps.

Here is the gameplay trailer for GravBot that shows some of these mechanics in action:

Team Phobic has proven they have a knack for first-rate level design with the Bounce On series, and they are known for the charming visuals in their games as well. The main character in GravBot already seems to show quite a bit of personality for what is essentially a TV with a unicycle wheel (which immediately gave me that GizmoDuck vibe). The game is slated for a September release, and we'll have more on GravBot as it becomes available. In the meantime you can check out the thread in our upcoming games forum or the GravBot Facebook page for additional screenshots of the game.

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