Spy Mouse maintains its iron-fisted grip at the top of the best-selling games list this week, while newcomer Puffle Launch breaks onto the list at number 5. Over on the top grossing games list, Backflip Studios’ DragonVale has made a major splash, landing it at number one. Read on for the rest of both lists, plus buy links, links to our reviews, and more.
Top-Selling Apps
#1: Spy Mouse
Our Score: 4/4
Our Bottom Line: Spy Mouse offers just about everything we look for in an iOS game.
#2: Angry Birds
Our Score: 4/4
Our Bottom Line: Destructive physics help make this a very charming puzzler, and the great level variety seals the deal.
#3: Angry Birds Seasons
Our Score: 4/4
Our Bottom Line: All the fun of Angry Birds, but more challenging, and with pumpkins and presents.
#4: Fruit Ninja
Our Score: 4/4
Our Bottom Line: As far as simple pick-up-and-play games go, Fruit Ninja is among the best.
#5: Puffle Launch
Most helpful iTunes review: “Love this game!”
#6: Backstab
Our Score: 3/4
Our Bottom Line: BackStab manages to capture much of what makes the Assassin’s Creed games so great.
#7: Angry Birds Rio
Our Score: 4/4
Our Bottom Line: Angry Birds Rio doesn’t change the formula, but it doesn’t need to. Angry Birds Rio is a blast.
#8: Cut the Rope
Our Score: 4/4
Our Bottom Line: Cut the Rope is a charming, challenging, and– most importantly– fun puzzle game that nearly anyone will enjoy.
#9: Tiny Wings
Our Score: 4/4
Our Bottom Line: Tiny Wings is brilliant in its simplicity, originality, and ability to keep you coming back again and again.
#10: N.O.V.A. 2 – Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance
Our Score: 4/4
Our Bottom Line: It’s not leaps and bounds beyond what we’ve seen before, but as far as first-person shooters on the App Store go, N.O.V.A. 2 is the grandaddy of them all.
Top-Grossing Apps
#1: DragonVale
#2: Tap Zoo
Our Score: 3/4
Our Bottom Line: Lions, tigers, and bears! Also, teeny-tiny animals in a teeny-tiny land!
#3: Smurfs’ Village
Our Score: 2/4
Our Bottom Line: The Smurfs’ Village doesn’t offer much gameplay beyond building a Smurf enclave and some middling minigames. But for a casual distraction, you could do worse.
#4: Trade Nations
Our Score: 3/4
Our Bottom Line: Trade Nations improves on the addictive formula of We Rule, but not as much as we’d hoped.
#5: Tap Fish 2
Most helpful iTunes review: “I like this game very much. The only thing I do find frustrating is that so many things are fish buck expensive.”
#6: Tap Pet Hotel
Most helpful iTunes review: Fun and different from all those other games out there! I love my panda!
#7: Zombie Farm
Most useful iTunes review: “Every time I finish invading the app crashes and I don’t receive any money, brains, loot, powers, or credit but I still have to wait 2 hours to invade again?”
#8: Tiny Zoo Friends
#9: Angry Birds
Our Score: 4/4
Our Bottom Line: Destructive physics help make this a very charming puzzler, and the great level variety seals the deal.
#10: Zynga Poker
Most helpful iTunes review: “Fun way to pass time.”