Word puzzles could use more kicking, punching, and eye-gouging. At least, this is the philosophy behind Bookworm Heroes, PopCap’s newest free-to-play game in the Bookworm series. Whereas the original Bookworm focused on a single player experience, Bookworm Heroes is an entirely head-to-head game that pits you against random opponents or Facebook friends in asynchronous gameplay.  Read More →

What lives in a sewer and loves pizza? If you guessed filthy rats, you’re only partially right. We’re talking about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The heroes in a half-shell are back, only this time they brought their running shoes.  Read More →

Ark of Sinners Advance is a game that very desperately wants to fill your Metroidvania needs, and it has elements in place to seemingly make it work. It has an appealing art style, huge levels to explore, and lots of combat options. Unfortunately, none of these components add up to anything interesting, and we ended up wondering why a game that started out its life as a critically savaged Wii-Verse title from two years ago would get ported to iOS without fixing at least some of the things that made the console version so very, very terrible.  Read More →

Illusion Labs is well-known for their eye-popping and easy-to-play mobile games. Touchgrind, Labyrinth 2, and Blast-A-Way all share a common set of quality attributes that make each new game a best-seller on the App Store. Illusion Labs’ latest game, Mr. Crab, is deceptively cute and simple at first, but the complex level design makes it more than a typical casual platformer.

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Gemini Rue is a curious adventure game that actually made its debut back on PC. It’s an exciting dystopian vision of the future that wouldn’t feel out of place in the world of Blade Runner or any futuristic tale. The story of former assassin Azriel Odin is a gripping one that plays out in a manner that goads you to keep playing long after setting it down, just to see how things end up. And it’s as satisfying as ever.  Read More →

If you’ve ever wanted to mow down a swarm of zombies with a muscle car, now is your chance. In R.I.P. Rally, you pick your car, your weapon, and your arena, and try to last as long as possible before you’re overtaken by the living dead. Each wave contains more and stronger zombies. You face off against the traditional feet-draggers at first, which you can easily roll over, but eventually you face exploding zombies, running zombies, and giant zombies. You’ll die eventually, but your goal is to last longer each round.  Read More →

New Cut the Rope games are fairly predictable. Over the past few years we’ve been treated to two full games and numerous content updates that brought nearly the same thing: fun, clever physics puzzles starring one of the cutest iOS mascots ever to grace the touchscreen. Each set of levels includes a new gameplay element or two, but you’re always slicing ropes to feed candy to Om Nom. Cut the Rope: Time Travel sticks to this formula, and that’s just fine with us.  Read More →

Fish Out of Water is a nice change of pace for developer Halfbrick Games. Their most popular titles, Fruit Ninja and Jetpack Joyride, start out leisurely enough, but soon turn into white-knuckle reflex tests that have you frantically swiping or tapping the screen to stay alive. In comparison, Fish Out of Water is like a vacation on a beach.  Read More →

Minimalism is a good thing in iOS gaming. After all, simple plots and easy-to-understand games have earned millions in the App Store, especially in the physics puzzler genre. On the other hand, Stay Alight may have taken minimalism a little too far.  Read More →

Final Fantasy V is a game that has a weird place in the legacy of the series. It doesn’t have the nostalgic values of being the first in the franchise, nor does it have the crown of being the first to introduce something like the Jobs system that has become a staple of the Final Fantasy games. It also doesn’t have a beloved story like the fourth, sixth and seventh installments. Going back and looking at what people thought of it way back when, you’ll find words like “trite” and “simplistic.” Not exactly sentiments you would expect to see about a game from the early days of this classic series.  Read More →

Shift is one of the most recognizable Flash game series on the web, so it makes sense that the folks over at Armor Games are prioritizing it on their ‘port to iPhone’ list. While the original iPhone version was a great port of the first Flash installment with a few extra levels, Shift 2 is a complete overhaul of the sequel. In fact, apart from a couple of rooms at the beginning, you won’t recognize any similarity between the two.  Read More →