Previews

Craneballs may not be one of the App Store's best-known indie developers, but ever since we played Blimp and Monorace, two of their finest games, we've been big fans. Other Craneballs fans out there will want to know all about Fish Heroes, a 3D physics puzzler that plays a bit like Angry Birds underwater.

Read More

A few years ago we ran a preview of Galactic Keep: Dice Battles, an impressive-looking title by Gilded Skull Games, made in the style of a tabletop RPG. Lots of gamers were looking forward to it, but then it seemed to disappear. Now it's back, and Gilded Skull is working hard to finish it. We chatted with Gilded Skull CEO Rob Lemon about what the game is, what happened to it, and how it's coming along.

Read More

Slingshot Racing is a racing game for people who don't care about racing games. Not that racing fans won't like it. In fact they probably will, but not because of realistic handling of tricked-out car specs. It's just not that kind of game. Slingshot Racing is more about your reflexes and your ability to plan ahead than it is about your driving skills.

Read More

Since Gameloft released Dungeon Hunter 3 as a freemium, casual action game last year, some of us have been slightly concerned that the N.O.V.A. series might get the freemium treatment as well. But don't worry-- not only is N.O.V.A. 3 a premium-priced, graphically-intensive action game like Modern Combat 3, but it also shares Modern Combat 3's game engine and some of its gritty, war-torn atmosphere.

Read More

Zombies can take a lot of punishment, but they do have their drawbacks. Namely, they're unorganized. In Brainsss, you get to play as the brains of the zombie organization, guiding hordes of undead through the streets to claim victims as they try to run away.

Read More

Gameloft has just announced a cartoonish physics puzzler called Shark Dash. The game comes out Thursday, but we got our hands on it last month. Read on for our impressions.

Read More

Life is hard, but it doesn't have to be. If a day at work meant no more than just clicking a button once, or your commute time was measured in seconds instead of hours, you might actually have fun going about your daily routine. Life Quest, an upcoming iOS port from Big Fish Games, makes day-to-day tasks exciting by turning them into a goal-driven RPG.

Read More

Like more and more developers these days, Hothead Games-- the maker of Jaws Revenge, Sea Stars, and Bunny the Zombie Slayer-- has decided to focus their efforts on freemium games for the foreseeable future. Their most recent title to hit the App Store was Big Win Soccer, a freemium card-based soccer game that should appeal to anyone, soccer fan or not. Their next title will be another entry in the Big Win Sports series, and it's called Big Win Hockey.

Read More

Ice Age Village hit the App Store last night, and we've updated our preview with hands-on video of the first few minutes of the game. Ice Age Village is a free download, so if you're a big fan of the films or just want another Dream Zoo-style freemium sim, you can download it here.

Read More

Late last year, Sega launched Samurai Bloodshow, an intriguing Plants vs. Zombies-style defense game with a historical Japanese theme. To appeal more to Western audiences, the sequel will feature two slightly more familiar ancient civilizations: Greeks and Egyptians.

Read More

Last week at GDC we went hands-on with Sega's upcoming Total War Battles: Shogun, an impressive-looking real-time strategy game for iOS. PC gamers may already be familiar with the Total War series, but this is a whole new game, with all original levels, and it was built entirely for touchscreen devices. As far as RTSs on iOS go, this one looks like a serious contender.

Read More

If Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode 1 was a fun throwback that reminded us of the glory days of the blue roller, then Episode 2 looks primed to continue and improve on that tradition. At GDC last week, we played through two levels of the upcoming game and were quite impressed. Fans have a lot to look forward to when it hits the App Store this spring.

Read More

Spacetime Studios has already proven that free, 3D MMORPGs can work on the iPhone or iPad-- just look at the extraordinarily success of Pocket Legends and Star Legends. But while Pocket Legends featured cutesy fantasy animals and Star Legends had sci-fi spaceships, their next game is a lot darker and more mature.

Read More

At last week's GDC, we received a hands-on demo of a unique puzzle/ adventure game hybrid from Brawsome and Ayopa called MacGuffin's Curse. In it, you play as a down-on-his-luck magician named MacGuffin who tries to steal an amulet from a museum, only to have it turn him into a werewolf. Lycanthropy has its advantages, though, like freakish strength, perfect for pushing around heavy machinery as MacGuffin tries to make his escape.

Read More

Watch the trailer below, and it won't come as any surprise that The Act is more of a cartoon than a game. While you do have control over what happens onscreen, your input is limited to left and right swiping gestures that urge your character to do whatever he wants to accomplish in each scene. It's like the classic arcade game Dragon's Lair, but it doesn't rely on twitch reactions (and, one would hope, includes fewer deaths).

Read More

Skyfall, an upcoming game from Ngmoco, is one of the more interesting attempts we've seen to bring a full-fledged RPG experience to a mobile device. It has most of the basic ingredients of a Final Fantasy or a Dragon Quest-- exploration, a clever fighting system, towns, loot drops, inventories, leveling up, and dungeons-- but they're packaged in such a way that you can experience them in short play sessions.

Read More

We met with Ngmoco at GDC and got a look at two of their biggest upcoming games. One offers a deep experience set in a steam punk/medieval fantasy world, while the other is geared toward the ever-expanding casual gaming crowd. Both games use a freemium pay model, so you don't have to pay to play, but you can open your wallet for top-notch gear or to speed up in-game processes. Read on for details.

Read More

You may not have heard of Mail.ru, but they're Russia's biggest email provider, and a maker of online casual games. Soon they're launching Juggernaut: Revenge of Sovering, a follow-up to one of their web games and a real juggernaut of an iOS game. Describing it as a freemium spin on Infinity Blade's single combat wouldn't be too far off.

Read More

There's nothing subtle about Burnout Crash-- it's the kind of game an 11 year old boy would make if left to his own devices. Your job in the game is to rain mayhem on poor, innocent drivers and nearby buildings. The game rewards destruction for the sake of destruction, so there's no need to waste your time thinking about it too hard.

Read More

Although Apple featured Sky Gamblers: Air Supremacy at their iPad press event yesterday, there's another iOS flight sim at GDC that we thought was much more fun. Air Mail, from N-Fusion and Chillingo, is an adorable Pilotwings-style flying game with an epic fantasy story to match its stunning visuals.

Read More