Archive for the ‘RPG’ tag
Rocketcat Games Next Game Being Teased
If you’ve been listening to our show, you already know that Rocketcat Games has plans to release a free-to-play RPG based in its Mage Gauntlet [$2.99] universe. Earlier this morning, Rocketcat dropped another first-look at a class for that game . It even threw out some information on what it’s shooting for with the title.
“The Spellsword is essentially the same as Lexi from Mage Gauntlet. Anti-magic dash move, finds randomized single-use spells, while also being very strong in melee. However, he has low health compared to almost every other character.”
“Despite the similarity to Mage Gauntlet mechanics, we’ll be taking a lot of time to improve things with the Spellsword. The heart system will be replaced with a health bar system, allowing for things like armor that actually reduces damage.
We’re also looking into altering the equipment a bit. Some ideas include making some of the swords change what your charge-attack does, the spell-critical robes being replaced with new effects, and the spell trinkets adding secondary effects to the specific spell.”
In brief, Rocketcat’s Next Game will be a randomly generated dungeon crawler that jives with the spirit of Mage Gauntlet. Players will have different classes to choose from, and other classes to unlock via an in-game gem currency system. Since it’s free-to-play and all, those gems will be also be available as optional IAP downloads.
Rocketcat seems pretty serious about sharing stuff for this title on its Facebook, so go give that a follow if you’re into what it’s doing next.
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‘Dungeon Hunter 3′ and ‘Zenonia 4′ Jump Down the Free to Play Rabbit Hole
Two favorite franchises of the TouchArcade forums, Dungeon Hunter and Zenonia both had sequels drop during the Christmas flurry of releases. Both the good news and the bad news is that these games are totally free to play. Depending on which side of the free to play fence you’re sitting on, this is either great news or horrible news. I’m not sure there’s any wiggle room in between, if arguments on our forums and in iTunes reviews are any indication. In my opinion, regardless of how you feel about the whole free to play thing, both Dungeon Hunter and Zenonia come from a pedigree of games that are worth giving the benefit of the doubt to. They’re free to try, and who knows, you might not find their respective free to play mechanics that offensive… So I say, no harm in giving them a spin.
Dungeon Hunter hit in mid-2009 when we were still totally willing to overlook Gameloft being, well, Gameloft with their highly “inspired” games and were just beyond happy to get a great 3D dungeon crawler on the App Store. Dungeon Hunter 2 hit over a year later and improved upon the original in every way imaginable, most notably, adding online co-operative play.
Dungeon Hunter 3 [Free] departs from the traditional Dungeon Hunter formula in that it abandons all semblance of a story in exchange for a hoard mode which has become a surprisingly popular secondary game mode for all sorts of console games. Choose a class, kill everything as fast as you can, repeat. Like many “premium” games that make the “freemium” leap, progression feels artificially limited and grindy, unless you feel like opening your wallet. Still, if all you’re looking for is to bash some monsters faces in, Dungeon Hunter 3 will do the trick.
Similarly, Zenonia hit the App Store in early 2009, and even though the Korean RPG formula leans heavily on grinding, there wasn’t anything else available that came close to the gameplay offered. Iterative improvements were made both over Zenonia 2 and Zenonia 3 with new art, sound, classes, monsters, and more added with each jump in the series.
The recently released Zenonia 4 [Free] follows this trend, with a free to play mechanic sandwiched in. The controls feel just as clunky as every other Zenonia game, but just like previous installments, don’t take long to get used to. Zenonia 4 is the best looking Zenonia title as well, as it comes packed with full Retina Display graphics. Progression doesn’t feel any slower than other titles (which were never very fast) and the free to play mechanic hinges on a constant pressure to buy ZEN points which can be used to improve your character in basically every way you can imagine.
I just wish both of these games were available as a single purchase game, tuned to provide a fun gameplay experience from beginning to end instead of goading me to open my wallet or play for eternity. This seems to be the case for most of these “premium” games that make the free to play jump, so it’s not like the shift in gameplay should be news to anyone. Regardless, they are free to try, and we still likely won’t see any new games until next week…
Dungeon Hunter 3, Free (Universal)
ZENONIA® 4, Free
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2011 TouchArcade Staff Favorites – Jared
After getting together to pick our official best games of 2011, we also had our writers take a look back at the last year and compile lists of their personal favorites along with their reasons why.
(Image via lauren mh)
Here is a moment I’ve been dreading all year: coming up with my own personal top games of 2011. I am horrible about picking my favorites in anything, be it movies, music, food, whatever. I always just want to take the easy way out, and just pick ALL my favorites with no compromise. But that’s not what this list is about. It’s about the top 5 games that rose above the rest, and in the year of stellar releases that was 2011, distilling my favorite games from the year into such a short list has been a task more difficult than I had anticipated.
That said, I present to you the top 5 games that I felt had to be included. My criteria was mostly which games I continued to play the most even after all the previews, reviews, and update posts had been written. In other words, these are the games I began playing to fulfill my job duties, but continued playing for myself.
The caveat, of course, is that there are plenty of games that I really wanted on my list but just flat out didn’t have room for. As such, some of the ones that I was really going back and forth with ended up not being included because they have already been featured in our overall Game of the Year and runners up list or our 2011 Buyers Guide. In fact, almost every game from both of those lists was in my “seriously considering” pile, so be sure to check out both and know that they include a ton of my favorite games from this year too.
At any rate, 2011 was a crazy great year for crazy great games on the App Store. And by the looks of things, 2012 is already shaping up to be even crazier.
Sonic CD, $2.99 – [Review] – [] – I never owned a Sega CD, so my experiences with Sonic CD were limited to brief interactions at friends’ houses and a bit of tooling around with the Sonic Gems Collection on consoles. But I never really got hooked on Sonic CD until it hit iOS. And, almost 20 years later, I can finally see what all the fuss was about. The game is sublime, and caters well to those simply looking to race to the end or to those looking to invest some additional time exploring, earning bonus emeralds, or jumping back and forth through time. The fact that the touch screen controls have never once gotten in the way of me enjoying this game really cements Sonic CD as one of the definitive iOS games of 2011.
Bumpy Road, $2.99 – [Review] – [] – Bumpy Road initially caught my attention with its unique ground manipulating mechanic, but the final product managed to tap into my mind on an emotional level. The whimsical music and visuals gave me reason to keep playing as I escorted an adorable couple on a Sunday drive in their motorcar. The fact that you don’t control the main characters directly gives them a chance to shine on their own, but the extremely personal and organic way in which you manipulate the environment with your touch inputs made me feel like an integral part of their journey. Similar sentiments could be said for games like Tiny Wings and Whale Trail, which also hit me at that emotional level. But in the end, it was Bumpy Road that captured my heart the most.
Mos Speedrun, $1.99 – [Review] – [] – Stellar iOS platformers were plentiful in 2011, but Mos Speedrun is the one that I obsessed over more than any other. Developers finally figured out that precise virtual controls could be possible on a touch screen, and Mos Speedrun indeed has fantastic controls. Its neo-retro visuals and awesome chiptune soundtrack also tickled my fancy in just the right way. But all of these elements are things that several other platformers did just as well this year, and what set Mos Speedrun apart for me were its incredible level designs. Literally built for speedruns, some of the most fun I’ve had in gaming were the late nights spent playing Mos Speedrun levels over and over again trying to find that one special shortcut that let me shave just a fraction of a second off of a completion time.
Touchgrind BMX, $4.99 – [Review] – [] – The folks at Illusion Labs don’t release games that often, but when they do, they excel at practically every level. Touchgrind BMX is no exception. It brings impressive visuals and unique multitouch controls to the world of BMX, much like the original Touchgrind did for skateboarding. Touchgrind BMX surpasses its predecessor though by offering a great variety of different environments and obstacles to bike on, rather than just a single sandbox-style skatepark. The controls are complex but intuitive, and I’ve spend hours upon hours just trying to sharpen my dexterity to a razor sharp point in order to allow me to pull of some of the insane combos that are possible in the game.
King Cashing: Slots Adventure, $1.99 – [Review] – [] – If you would have told me at the beginning of the year that a slot machine game would be in my top 5 picks for 2011, I would have called you a dirty liar and possibly punched you in the face. I honestly don’t like slot machines much at all in real life, but King Cashing takes just the basic idea of a slot machine and uses it in a fresh way by making it the battle mechanic in an RPG-style setting. With a great character leveling system and tons of interesting weapons and items to collect, King Cashing was the perfect game to pick up for just a spare few minutes or to sink tons of hours into. It made me a fan of slot machines, and proved once again that you can add RPG-style leveling to just about anything and it will be better for it.
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TouchArcade Game of the Year 2011: ‘Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP’
We’ve mentioned in the past how difficult it was deciding on Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor [99¢] as our game of the year in 2009, along with Space Miner [99¢ / HD] in 2010. It shouldn’t come as much as much of a surprise that as the App Store has gained even more momentum, making these picks has become much more challenging. Interestingly enough, this year all of the games that we had in consideration for game of the year were also universal, which made the decision to drop the differentiation between the iPhone game of the year and iPad game of the year that we did in 2010 incredibly easy.
In 2011, we’re looking at iOS games as exactly that, games for iOS devices. We might prefer playing some of these games on the iPad (or in some cases, even the smaller screens of the iPhone or iPod touch) but they’re all fantastic experiences regardless of what device you’re playing it on. With the advent of iCloud, we’re hoping in 2012 developers take universal compatibility to new levels, and create games that are not only great on all devices, but can be seamlessly played on as many devices as you own.
Also, if you’d like to get some more insight on the TouchArcade game of the year process, check out the most recent episode of The TouchArcade Show. We discuss what we each liked about all of these games and more.
TouchArcade Game of the Year
Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP, $4.99 – [Review] – [] – Our minds were blown at GDC 2010 when we first got our hands on Sword & Sworcery. The initial experience of playing the game is so powerful that it gave me chills. I really can’t think of any other mobile game that has invoked a similar emotional response that I’ve played in my entire life. Sworcery is an absolute flawless combination of an entirely original soundtrack by , pixel art that is easily among the best I’ve ever seen by , and the creative genius of along with the proverbial behind-the-scenes glue provided by to bring the whole project together.
Sword & Sworcery is universal, and while we ever-so-slightly prefer the overall experience on our iPads, it’s still just as incredible on the smaller screens of the rest of the iOS device family. In fact, if all you have is an iPhone or iPod touch, you might want to just opt for Superbrother: Sword & Sworcery EP Micro [$2.99], which is a couple bucks cheaper at the expense of losing universal compatibility. Regardless of what device you play it on, S&S is a game you simply must play, from start to finish, with a great pair of headphones on if at all possible.
TouchArcade Game of the Year Runner Up
Anomaly Warzone Earth, $1.99 – [Review] – [] – Tower defense games have always been an App Store staple. It just seems to be a genre that perfectly meshes with both the touch controls of iOS devices, as well as providing an overall gameplay experience that works really well for playing on the go. Unfortunately, it seems there’s only so much you can do in a tower defense game, and even though the past few years have brought some great entries into the genre, they all felt sort of the same. Then, from out of nowhere, comes Anomaly Warzone Earth. In essence, took the traditional tower defense formula, and flipped it around, offering a whole new take on an otherwise stale section of the App Store.
They didn’t stop there though, as especially when played with headphones, Anomaly Warzone Earth is ridiculously immersive. Incredible amounts of effort went into creating a game that looks and sounds as good as it plays, and the game feels fresh the whole way through, as 11 bit studios constantly throws new challenges and gameplay elements at you all the way up to the last level. Similar to Sword & Sworcery, Anomaly Warzone Earth [99¢] is also available as a slightly cheaper although non-universal version as well.
Honorable Mentions
We also wanted to honor three other stand-out iOS titles that were among all of our best-of lists for the year. Like our game of the year and runner up, they’re all universal and should be on every iOS device that you own if you’re even remotely interested in iOS gaming.
Infinity Blade II, $6.99 – [Review] – [] – A great sequel to Infinity Blade [$5.99] by , Infinity Blade II expands upon the original in every way possible. It’s by far the best looking game on the App Store, and we suspect it will likely serve as the graphical benchmark of what iOS devices are capable of throughout 2012. If you want to stretch the legs of your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch and see what its truly capable of, Infinity Blade II is the game to do it with.
Mage Gauntlet, $2.99 – [Review] – [] – has had a fabulous track record for releasing phenomenal iOS titles with its Hook series of games, and Mage Gauntlet continues that tradition by being its best game yet. Flawless controls combine with all the retro trimmings to make us warm with nostalgia while feeling modern enough that even people who weren’t around for the great action RPGs of the 16-bit era can appreciate it. Recent updates have improved gameplay even further, and have added universal compatibility. We can’t wait to see what Rocketcat does in 2012.
SpellTower, $1.99 – [Review] – [] – The App Store is home to a plethora of clever puzzle games, and SpellTower is our favorite of the year. Gage elegantly combines the simplicity of a word game with the complexity of a strategy game, and its multiple game modes provide something for everyone regardless of whether you like to take your time and hunt for the best words, or be on the clock and racking up points as quickly as possible. We prefer SpellTower on our iPads, but it’s just as much fun on the iPhone and iPod touch as well.
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Best iOS Games: 2011 Buyer’s Guide
Each year before Christmas we’ve put up a buyer’s guide listing the best iOS titles of the year. Looking back at the 2009 Buyer’s Guide and the 2010 Buyer’s Guide, we’ve come a long way. Below you’ll find all of 5 star rated iOS titles, as well as the standout 4.5 star games.
If you just opened an iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad for Christmas, this is a great place to get started. To make this list a little easier to digest, we’ve broken these games into a few very vague categories. Oh, and if you also opened an iCade this Christmas, don’t forget to check out our list of iCade supported games.
Casual
Tiny Wings, $0.99 – [Review] – [] – It’s not every day that Angry Birds gets knocked to the #2 position on the top sales charts, but Tiny Wings did it. It comes packed with delightfully simple single button gameplay that even kids could enjoy along with increasingly difficult goals that even hardcore gamers will find challenging. Get this game, now.
Angry Birds Rio, $0.99 – [Review] – [] – As easy as it is to groan at Angry Birds Rio getting a 5 star rating, it’s a fantastic game. It obviously takes the original Angry Birds formula and builds on top of it with the Rio tie in, boss battles, and some spruced up interface elements. There’s also a few extra layers of parallax scrolling that really make this version of Angry Birds look much better than the others as well.
Bumpy Road, $2.99 – [Review] – [] – It’s not often that a game comes along in the App Store that makes you think, “Wow, why didn’t someone think of this sooner?”. Bumpy Road is just that kind of game. The control system to control the game world rather than the car is remarkably clever, and since its initial release it’s even seen some update love from the developers.
Tiny Tower, Free – [Review] – [] – NimbleBit set some sky high expectations with Pocket Frogs [Free], their previous (and first) foray into the free to play world. I’d go as far as to say that Tiny Tower is even better, as it has completely taken over my household.
Temple Run, Free – [Review] – [] – Imangi Studios doesn’t release games all that often, but when they do, they sure are good. Temple Run takes the endless runner formula, adds a third person chase viewpoint, some tilt mechanics, and heaps of power ups to cheat death. Additionally, Temple Run was voted the when it was first released.
Platformer
EDGE Extended, $2.99 – [Review] – [] – We thought the original Edge was incredible, and Extended somehow takes that same game formula, applies a substantial layer of awesome, then knocks it out of the park. Clever platforming mechanics combined with fantastic music really just create an experience that you can’t miss.
Bring Me Sandwiches!!, $0.99 – [Review] – [] – Adult Swim is batting 1000 lately with fabulous iOS games, and Bring Me Sandwiches!! keeps that tradition going strong. It’s a cross between the collect-everything-you-see gameplay of Katamari Damacy with a platformer game. Additionally, tons of control schemes make the game great to play no matter what your control preference might be.
Sonic CD, $2.99 – [Review] – [] – Here we have the best installment of one of the greatest gaming franchises, which received both flawless review scores and game of the year awards when it was originally released ported with complete perfection to iOS. This is a game you flat out need to buy if you even vaguely consider yourself an iOS gamer. Not only because it’s such an impeccable port of an important piece of gaming history, but because we need to vote with our wallets to tell Sega (and anyone else who might be watching) that this is the quality we demand out of retro games brought to the App Store.
Whale Trail, $0.99 – [Review] – [] – Most games you can plot along a line graph with “gameplay” on one end and “presentation” on the other. The best games wind up somewhere in the middle, and Whale Trail definitely sits deep into the “presentation” side of things. Still, the game looks fantastic, and the incredibly vibrant graphics almost make you forget the gameplay is so simple.
Wind-up Knight, $0.99 – [Review] – [] – Picture Super Mario Bros. Got a nice image in your head? Good. Now imagine Mario could never stop moving and would only change direction if he hit a wall. A little tougher. And what if absolutely everything could kill him in one hit, and there was no such thing as a checkpoint? That sounds like the sort of game that would have you cursing, spitting, and contemplating throwing your controller, and it also sounds a lot like Wind-up Knight.
Adventure
Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP, $4.99 – [Review] – [] – This is the closest thing to what we’d call a “system seller” of a video game since the iPad was originally released. Sword & Sworcery is an absolutely incredible experience, a thought that has not only been shared by the gaming press, but also the mainstream media as well. If you have an iOS device and $5 to your name, there’s no excuse not to spend it on this game. If you don’t want to fork over a couple bucks more for the universal version, Sword & Sworcery Micro [$2.99] is just what the doctor ordered.
Machinarium, $4.99 – [Review] – [] – This game generated a heck of a lot of controversy when it was revealed that it’d only run on the iPad 2 only, which had us more than a little worried about its performance if it requires top-end hardware. It turns out, Machinarium runs fantastically, despite its Adobe Air-based innards. If you’ve got the hardware, don’t miss this remarkably clever adventure.
Aquaria, $4.99 – [Review] – [] – Imagine if a Metroidvania went underwater with a fantastic touch-based control scheme. That’s what Aquaria is in a nutshell, but you’ve got to appreciate its fine touches and vision even if its formula doesn’t jive with you.
Retro
Forget-Me-Not, $1.99 – [Review] – [] – In our review we called Forget-Me-Not the “retrolicious lovechild of PAC-MAN and Rogue,” and I’m really struggling with a better way to describe the game. An amazing scoring system combines with fantastic retro graphics that only bolster how much fun Forget-Me-Not is to play. If the thought of PAC-MAN combined with dungeon crawling at all piques your interest, stop what you’re doing and download Forget-Me-Not immediately.
The Last Rocket, $2.99 – [Review] – [] – Retro-inspired games are fairly common on the App Store, but The Last Rocket is one of the best examples we’ve seen of a modern-day title that could have easily passed as an absolutely fabulous NES game. The Graphics and music are all delightfully 8-bit, but even without all these retro trimmings the gameplay could stand on its own.
Velocispider, $1.99 – [Review] – [] – This fantastic tilt-controlled shooter has sucked up entirely too much of our time. With nods to retro shooters like Space Invaders, awesome pixel art, and universal compatibility Velocispider is simply fantastic.
Another World – 20th Anniversary, $4.99 – [Review] – [] – It’s hard to find a game on the App Store with more history behind it than Another World. Touch-based controls (as well as an optional virtual D-pad) along with both original and remastered graphics make for an outstanding port of this classic adventure game.
Role Playing
Infinity Blade II, $6.99 – [Review] – [] – We put incredibly powerful devices in our pockets and on our laps daily, but rarely do we see games that utterly embrace this like Infinity Blade 2 has. It’s a showcase piece; a technically and visually gifted game that consistently delivers eye-popping stuff. The gameplay is great, too.
Mage Gauntlet, $2.99 – [Review] – [] – Almost too many games lean on pixel art and chip tunes just because it’s in style, but Mage Gauntlet draws inspiration from that era and allows it to permeate every aspect of the game. If you have any fond memories of Super Nintendo-era action RPGs, don’t miss this game.
Pocket RPG, $2.99 – [Review] – [] – Crescent Moon Games’ latest is this awesome spin on entirely randomized Roguelike gameplay mixed with the action-packed style of a dual stick shooter. It’s a combination that works incredibly well, and being entirely randomized, is infinitely replayable. If you don’t feel like springing for the universal version, there’s also a cheaper Pocket RPG iPhone Edition [99¢].
Strategy / Sim
King of Dragon Pass, $7.99 – [Review] – [] – No lie, I’ve spent more time playing this game than all the other games that we reviewed in September combined. If my exhaustive review wasn’t clear enough, here’s all you need to know: If you like simulation games, you needed King of Dragon Pass on your iPhone yesterday. I’ve still got my fingers crossed for an iPad version, but I’m more than happy managing my clan whenever I’ve got a few seconds to spare on my iPhone.
Great Little War Game, $1.99 – [Review] – [] – As mentioned in our review, this game is anything but little. Great Little War Game is a turn-based strategy game that we consider a must have for anyone even vaguely interested in the genre. The developers are remarkably active in our community, and thus far GLWG’s updates have been fantastic, both in implementing new features as well as forum feedback.
Pocket Academy, $1.99 – [Review] – [] – It seems like ever since Game Dev Story [$1.99 we just can't get enough of Kairosoft simulations. This one in particular puts you in charge of a school, and while many of the mechanics might not be immediately apparent, once the game grabs you, it doesn't let go.
Tiny Heroes, $1.99 - [Review] – [] – geoDefense and geoDefense Swarm cranked tower defense on the App Store up to 11, and, dare I say it, Tiny Heroes makes a great attempt to crank it to 12. Or, at least, 11 and a half. This fantasy-based tower defense title should not be missed by anyone who even vaguely fancies the genre.
Sid Meier’s Pirates! for iPad, $1.99 – [Review] – [] – This pirate sim is a game with a ton of history behind it, and 2K Games did a marvelous job of porting it to the iPad. It has depth on top of depth, and will keep you busy for quite some time if it manages to suck you in. We’ve got our fingers crossed for more ports like this of incredible games that work phenomenally on the iPad.
Anomaly Warzone Earth, $0.99 / HD – [Review] – [] – Who knew that turning tower defense in reverse would make for such an incredible game? If you’re even vaguely interested in anything to do to tower defense, Anomaly: Warzone Earth needs to be on your iOS device. The mechanics are solid, the atmosphere is cool, and it’ll leave you wanting for a sequel.
Action / Shooter
Dead Space™, $0.99 – [Review] – [] – “Console quality” is a phrase that’s thrown around a lot to describe portable games, and really, it’s a fitting title for this iOS-exclusive version of Dead Space. We tend to prefer Dead Space for iPad [$9.99] over its iPhone counterpart, but both are fantastic games that should be a part of your collection.
Battleheart, $2.99 – [Review] – [] – This single player game perfectly combines everything that’s good about complex party-based realtime battles found in MMO-style games with wonderfully simple and intuitive touch controls. Multiple character classes are included, as well as equipment upgrades. It’s incredible just how much flexibility there is for tweaking your party and how you play the game. Battleheart is fantastic on the iPhone, but you can’t miss it if you own an iPad.
THE KING OF FIGHTERS-i-, $2.99 – [Review] – [] – Back in the day of the arcade fighter arms wars, it was Street Fighter versus The King of Fighters with as fierce of a rivalry among gamers as arguing Nintendo vs. Sega. KoF has arrived on the App Store, and it’s every bit as good as its Street Fighter, although it remains to be seen if they’ll match the online play found in Volt.
Jetpack Joyride, Free – [Review] – [] – This is our favorite game of the month, as this endless power-up packed single-button flying game is responsible for sapping days of productivity across the entire TouchArcade staff. There are so many hooks to keep you playing that you can do “one more game” for hours through achievements, missions, unlockables, and all sorts of cosmetic customizations.
Bug Heroes, Free – [Review] – [] – Much like how Dungeon Raid took typical match three gameplay and made it awesome, Bug Heroes takes the dual stick shooter to the next level. The core of the game is based around the typical dual stick shooter formula, but multiple playable characters (each with strengths and weaknesses) as well as elements of both castle and tower defense make this a game that everyone needs to check out. Just keep in mind, it will be very difficult to go back to your basic survival-mode dual stick shooter after this.
Zombieville USA 2, $0.99 – [Review] – [] – Tightly-constructed, well-executed, charming, different and entertaining are all words we freely use when describing Zombieville 2. It’s a near perfect iterative entry to the franchise, as it artfully hones in on and turns up the volume on the two best parts of the original: the shooting and upgrade models.
Grand Theft Auto 3, $2.99 – [Review] – [] – Even though GTA 3 wasn’t designed for virtual controls, you’ll have a great time with it, even if all you do is drive around Liberty City listening to the fantastic in-game radio stations. (My favorite is the talk station.) As you become more accustomed with the splattering of virtual buttons all over the screen, you’ll find hours upon hours of content to plow through. Having played GTA3 to completion many times in the past, I’m incredibly happy to be able to take it anywhere with me on my phone of all things.
Bug Princess, $4.99 – [Review] – [Forum Thread] – Aside from a few small quibbles, Bug Princess offers yet another stellar entry in CAVE’s series of iOS shooters. It’s probably the most straight forward and least complex out of them all, which makes it a great starting point for bullet hell newbies, but it does have its share of depth for those looking to master its strategies.
STREET FIGHTER IV VOLT, $2.99 – [Review] – [] – Capcom is following their time honored tradition of relentlessly re-releasing Street Fighter with Street Fighter IV Volt. This time around there are three new characters as well as online multiplayer.
Dark Meadow, $5.99 – [Review] – [] – Atmospheric horror is a game genre that never really seems to translates to portable devices very well, but Phosphor Games did a great job of it with Dark Meadow. Set in a creepy hospital, and utilizing the Unreal Engine, the game looks and sounds great. A repetitive combat system drags down this otherwise fantastic title.
Puzzle
Where’s My Water?, $0.99 – [Review] – [] – This super-fun liquid-centric physics game puts you in the driver seat of helping an alligator take a shower. Sure, it’s hard to come up with a more ridiculous premise, but maybe that’s part of this game’s charm. A wacky scrolling mechanic on some levels is the only thing we have to complain about, otherwise Where’s My Water is fabulous.
Dungeon Raid, $1.99 – [Review] – [] – As mentioned in our review of the game, with the number of fish in the match three sea, it takes a lot to make one that’s just as fun (if not more so) than the match three staples like Bejeweled 2 and other classics. Dungeon Raid accomplishes this by distilling the Puzzle Quest formula down to its basics, and providing match three gameplay that retains its simple nature while offering a shocking amount of depth via random equipment and character upgrades. Also, there’s much more to matching than just high scoring, clearing each type of block has a purpose, and the order you clear them in can mean life or death. This game has stolen hours of my time, I can’t recommend it enough.
Casey’s Contraptions HD, $2.99 – [Review] – [] – There are tons of contraption-building games on the App Store, but few are as good as Casey’s Contraptions. The theme of the game is gloriously whimsical, and you can spend hours delving through the clever and convoluted solutions your friends post via Game Center.
Gesundheit!, $0.99 – [Review] – [] – This stealth-centric sneeze-powered puzzle game comes with fantastic controls, some of the best hand-drawn art we’ve seen in action on the App Store, and details like shadows moving relative to your iOS device’s gyroscope readings. We prefer the iPad version, but only because you’ll want as much screen real estate as possible to enjoy this game’s incredible art.
Wooords, $1.99 – [Review] – [] – Games where you search for words within a pre-defined set of letters have some serious roots, heck, this kind of puzzle was published in newspapers before video games even existed, and there’s a zillion variations on the App Store. Words totally impressed us with its slick presentation that feels less like playing a word game and more like moving magnetic letters around on a refrigerator.
SPY mouse, $0.99 – [Review] – [] – Firemint has managed to de-throne Angry Birds from the #1 position on the App Store with this line-drawing-powered stealth game. Collect cheese, evade cats, use various tricks, and even fight bosses. All the gameplay elements go together incredibly well, and Firemint even managed to remove a lot of things that have historically annoyed us about stealth games in the process.
SpellTower, $1.99 – [Review] – [] – Word games can still be fun. Elegant, clever and fun, SpellTower a complete package, brought together by Gage’s trademark use of cheerful colors, simple patterns and elegant typography.
iBlast Moki 2, $2.99 / Universal HD – [Review] – [] – This game sets the standard of what gamers should expect of sequels. It’s got familiar puzzle-centric physics mechanics of the original with tons of new features that add complexity and all kinds of new ways to solve puzzles. Additionally, a perfectly integrated solution system can show you how your friends completed a level if you get stuck.
Monsters Ate My Condo, $0.99 – [Review] – [] – Adult Swim and Pik Pok joined forces to bring us one of the craziest matching games we’ve ever seen on the App Store. The game requires matching similarly colored floors while appeasing nearby color-coded monsters, each with a more ridiculous super-power than the last. Also, you can score billions if you’re good. Billions!
Scribblenauts Remix, $0.99 – [Review] – [] – Originally released on the Nintendo DS, Scribblenauts is a game that’s so unique that you simply must play it. Remix combines the best elements from both of the DS games along with 10 iOS-exclusive levels. In addition, it’s even universal and boasts complete iCloud save syncing support.
Bejeweled Blitz, Free – [Review] – [] – Popcap takes the glorious match-three mechanic of the classic puzzle franchise, pumps up the volume on the jewel and match bonuses, and then condenses it all down into frantic, one-minute bursts of eye-gasmic, point-laden play.
Sports
NBA JAM by EA SPORTS™, $0.99 – [Review] – [] – iOS gamers really couldn’t ask for much more when it comes to EA’s port of NBA Jam… Multiplayer was even added in an update! All of the massive dunks and secret modes are intact, making this a surprisingly faithful port. EA even recently updated the game’s roster, bringing it in line with this NBA season.
Pocket HalfPipe, $2.99 – [Review] – [] – This incredibly awesome skateboarding game is highly reminiscent of the halfpipe in the classic NES series Skate or Die, but with much better graphics and crazy dual stick controls that allow you to pull off all kinds of moves. The game could easily be described as basic, but it’s so much fun that we don’t care. The tricks you’ll be able to pull off after a bit of practice are cool, and stringing a massive chain together is hugely rewarding.
Fight Night Champion by EA Sports™, $0.99 – [Review] – [] – A surprisingly competent boxing game that feels like an equal to its console counterpart instead of a typical watered-down mobile version. Great touch screen controls combine with different game modes to create a boxing experience that is among the best that the App Store has to offer.
Music
Groove Coaster, $0.99 – [Review] – [] – There have been a ton of rhythm games released on the App Store, but none have the amazing presentation of Groove Coaster that almost makes it less of a game and more of an experience– And this is one experience you really can’t miss especially if you enjoyed its creator’s other game, Space Invaders Infinity Gene.
Radballs, Free – [Review] – [Forum Thread] – We fell in love with RadBalls inside of the first few seconds of , and by the time it was over we were ready to yield our first born to its creator. Oh, yeah, the game is fun as hell too. It’s a music-centric matching game that even allows you to use your own tracks. Check it out.
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‘The Sims FreePlay’ Review – Play God in Real Time
Way back in 2000 when I first started playing The Sims, the big joke was that Sims players were wasting their time living virtual lives when they could be living their own. That stigma faded over time — once MMORPGs made it big, there were bigger time wasters to fry.
But The Sims FreePlay [Free] hearkens back to those early days in more ways than one. For one thing, it’s more like the original than any of the other mobile titles. For another, this game plays in real time. That means when you take the time to send your Sim off to shower, you really could be doing it yourself. Never before has a game given me such an uncomfortable awareness of my own time-wasting — but the returns make it feel worthwhile.
By moving the game into real time, players are free to, well, not play on occasion. Freemium titles like this work on timers, and timers have to keep moving while you’re away. Since the game is all about micromanaging your Sims lives, imagine a 20 minute day — step out for an extended lunch in real life, and all your Sims would have starved away to nothing.
Instead, you can pop in to babysit them as little as once or twice a day, or as often as you want. It’s a lot like playing The Sims with autonomy turned off: your Sims will do nothing on their own. They will suffer, starve and humiliate themselves if you’re not there to care for them. Will they die? I couldn’t bring myself to let it go that far. Seeing their tiny, defeated frames as they stood there starving a few steps from a fridge was enough of a heart-breaker.
If you want your Sims to take on gainful employment, you’ll need to stop in a bit more often. Jobs also function in real time, so if you’re not able to play around, say, 8 am there will be certain jobs you’ll want to avoid. It’s awkward, but your Sims really don’t care — they lack interests, desires or skills, so one job is as good as the next.
That’s the fundamental problem of The Sims FreePlay: if every action is equally good, they all start to feel a bit pointless. You can send your Sim down for a quick nap that takes 4 minutes or a deep sleep that takes 8 hours, and the only difference is the amount of experience you’ll earn at the end of it. It’s streamlined gameplay that works exceptionally well for a freemium title, but feels a bit pointless when compared to the desktop titles.
Still, as a freemium game The Sim FreePlay works very well. Grinding for experience takes a back seat to entertainment. You can customize your Sims’ looks and outfits. You can play with their hearts, setting up love triangles and household-spanning affairs. You can set your Sims to gardening and play Farmville-lite. You can rebuild their homes and decorate with a decent selection of furniture and decor. Playing interior decorator is always my favorite part.
Of course, to buy furniture you need money. Your Sims can earn their simoleons by going to work, selling the fruits of their gardening labor and playing with their pets. Or you can skip all that and just buy them. You can also buy lifestyle points, which can be used to instantly complete timers or purchase some awesome furniture and houses. Lifestyle points can also be earned as you level up and complete missions.
Here’s the rub: simoleons and lifestyle points are expensive. The smallest simoleon packs you can buy are $4.99, and give you about enough cash to buy one shop in town. You can do it all yourself instead, but it’s going to be a long grind to buy homes to unlock all 16 Sims, open all the shops and build all the workplaces.
If you go into the game looking for the next great Sims title, you’ll be disappointed. The game is all surface without much underlying personality. But if you’re looking for a new freemium title to sink your teeth into, The Sims FreePlay offers so much fun and variety that you’ll barely notice the same old timers underpinning the works. That’s no small achievement. If you find yourself as hooked as I am, stop by our and share your thoughts.
TouchArcade Rating: 
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Christmas Sale: All Of Crescent Moon’s Games
is holding a “massive holiday sale.” We agree. For a limited time, or presumably until the iTunes freeze is over, you can grab all of its App Store catalogue for up to 80 percent off the normal asking price. The chart-topping and fairly well-received Aralon: Sword and Shadow is headlining the event, but as you’ll see, there’s a few other good games to grab, too. Like, say, another RPG: Rimelands: Hammer of Thor. Or the physics-based rolling ball game, Gears.
Here’s the list:
- Aralon: Sword and Shadow HD – $6.99 → $.99
- Evertales – $1.99 → $.99
- Deadlock: Online – $.99 → Free
- Gears – $2.99 → $.99
- Pocket RPG for iPhone – $2.99 → $.99
- Pocket RPG – $4.99 → $2.99
- Rimelands: Hammer of Thor – $4.99 → $.99
- Siegecraft – $2.99 → $.99
Gotta love Christmas, right? We heartily suggest you grab Aralon if you’re a fan of open-world RPGs. It’s big, it’s deep, and it’s mechanically sound for what it is.
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‘MinoMonsters’ Review – Monsters in Your Pocket, Now on iOS and Cuter Than Ever
Every iOS game has a story behind its development, but the one behind MinoMonsters [$0.99] may have been one you’ve already heard if you pay attention to iOS news. Like that the guys that founded the company that made the game are some of the youngest game designers to score an investment of this size for their project ( ), but they have some meaty people on board too, such as TJ Murphy, who co-founded the Social Gaming Network. In other words, MinoMonsters has a hell of a pedigree. And with that kind of story behind it, well, it’s hard not to expect one hell of a game.
Luckily, the final product is pretty stellar. MinoMonsters operates off the Pokemon strategy, as it puts you in the role of an (unseen) hero who collects adorable creatures and trains them to fight on your behalf as you progress through a lush world populated by a series of different stages. The game looks like a comic book in action, and is absolutely gorgeous to play – definitely a standout when it comes to what’s on the App Store. There are tons of cute titles out there, but MinoMonsters looks and plays like a really handsome action RPG. Since I love that genre, I was instantly hooked on the combination of monster training and exploring.
Speaking of how it plays, there are four worlds to explore, and you’ll start simply with only one Mino by your side. As you explore the worlds, you’ll have a small log at the top of your screen that lists your quests. Some are fetch quests a’la MMO style (fight this many guys, etc), but others will have you looking for a big Mino to save or other such quests. When you get one of these latter quests, there will be a circular icon with a tiny arrow attached to it to help you navigate your way towards it with more ease.
Movement is flawless — with the exception of the back home and quest icons at the top middle of the screen, there are not a lot of buttons to contend with. Each world is made up of a series of platforms you’ll jump between to move around, and when you land on one with a Mino on it, a fight ensues. You can either engage in the fight by tapping the Mino with your finger for a normal attack or choosing a special attack from the bottom of the screen.
However, to do so, you’ll need to earn lightning bolt icons to fill up that bar. Every time you get a hit in, the enemies will drop hearts, lightning bolts, and stars. These respectively fill up your life bar, your special attack bar, and your experience rating post fight. The way the enemies drop these works very well too, as it allows you to keep fighting. It’s also worth mentioning that the more care you take with your Minos, the better they will perform in fights for you — something I’ll explain next here.
At any time in your explorations, you can touch the home button up top and find yourself on the Mino island. You’ll see the Minos you have equipped, and be able to interact with them by touching them. Each will have an icon over its head to tell you how comfortable it is feeling with you. In order to make the Minos happy, you need to periodically come to the island and make sure you feed them goodies. When you have the opportunity to after some time exploring, there will be a heart over their heads, and you can touch it and feed them a slew of hearts and smile faces. This warms them to you and makes them better fighters. If you neglect coming to this screen, they will come to like you less and less.
This screen also has the shop on it, which will enable you to purchase new monsters, collars for them to toughen them up, gems to make them more powerful, and candy, which is what you feed Minos in order to capture them. These are all microtransactions, so you’ll have to spend real money if you want to do any of this.
You are given some candy to start the game off with, but once you run out, you’ll have to wait one day in-game to get 5 more. You also use these to run in battles, which means that it’s fairly easy to run out of them quickly. This was one part of MinoMonsters I did not care for. I do not like feeling forced to participate in microtransactions, but considering how integral the candy is to gameplay, it seems to me that it would have been nice to at least find one in boxes from time to time. However, the MinoMonsters team have mentioned on that they will be adding an update in the future that will make candy easier to earn, so it’s nice to see the developers on top of user feedback and aiming to please.
My only other complaint is that I think MinoMonsters needed more music. The sound effects are fine, but it made no sense to me that the overworld and the Mino island was silent. I actually looked to make sure I didn’t mute something. It’s a small bone to pick, but with a world as enchanting as this one at your fingertips, it seems it would have only been further enhanced by music to make that atmosphere a place you want to spend that much more time in.
You can play MinoMonsters alone just fine, but the creators really intended it to be an experience you share with friends. You can use the friends button to add Facebook friends, and once you do, that’s when you can start pitting your monsters against your friends’ monsters. I am solo gamer for the most part, but I can easily see how battling your friends could become something I wanted to do a lot.
I think MinoMonsters has the potential to become a pretty big deal. It’s in a hell of a package, and it’s clear that the developers want to continue expanding the world and building upon what they have. They have been clear in interviews that they would like this game to be the next Angry Birds, which is a lofty goal. However, I enjoyed it a great deal more than I did Angry Birds, so take from that what you will. At the price, I consider it a must-download, as it’s easily some of the most fun I’ve had with an iOS title in some time.
TouchArcade Rating: 
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RPG ‘Ash’ Updated with All New Original Artwork
Just over a year ago, released Ash [99¢/Lite], a fun role-playing game that attempted to be a modern throwback to RPGs of the 16-bit era. It succeeded remarkably well at it too, offering simple but fun RPG gameplay with an interesting story tying everything together. We liked it a whole bunch in our review, and even our complaints about the difficulty and the controls were rectified in a later update.
Sadly, one thing that didn’t seem likely to get rectified was the generic look of the game. Ash was made using assets from , a build-your-own-RPG program of sorts. This made everything look kind of patchwork-ish and cookie cutter, which contrasted poorly with the high quality of the dialogue and storyline. However, it wasn’t anything so off-putting that you couldn’t enjoy the game, it was just the biggest part of the game that could use improvement.
Now, surprisingly, SRRN has actually gone and redrawn all of the artwork to Ash and released it as a free update. The new sprites, backgrounds, and character art all closely mimic the previous version, so it’s not like you’re dealing with entirely new characters, but they’ve all been redrawn or remade beautifully. The game is much more colorful and brighter, and everything has a more cohesive look like it all belongs together. It’s definitely a very welcome improvement. Aside from the new artwork, they also fixed some bugs and toned down the frequency of random encounters.
If you haven’t checked out Ash already, the lovely new artwork is just one more reason to give it a look. For those that already own and have played through Ash, this update is reason enough to dust off that app and give it another run through. If you’re thinking of picking up Ash, right now wouldn’t be a bad time as it’s currently on sale for 99¢ and there’s a lite version to try which has also been given the visual improvement.
Ash, $0.99
Ash Lite, Free
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‘Mage Gauntlet’ Goes Universal In Big Update
’s utterly fantastic action RPG, Mage Gauntlet [$2.99], is now bigger, better, and much more Universal. In a brand new update, Rocketcat has added Universal support and rolled in fancy new flip-screen functionality to one of our most favorite RPGs of the year. On top of this, it’s rolled in various tweaks: some spells have been changed around, the rabbit’s foot now increases hat drops by five times, revives grant a free spell, save files can now be exported via iTunes, and some levels have received some shortening to make them better.
Surprisingly, that’s not all — bug fixes and a few other notable changes have been introduced. If you’re particularly curious about what’s up, check out the or on iTunes. It’s a long list. Also, if you’re still somehow on the fence, definitely give our review a read. You don’t want to miss this game.
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