The best gaming apps for your iOS device this month
Below, we run through the ten best new iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch games released within the past month. All titles are playable on all iOS devices unless otherwise indicated.
Buy from Apple1. Punch Quest 94
Action, free, ages 9+, from Rocketcat Games
"Punch Quest is what an endless runner would look like if you threw it into a time machine, spat it out in the early 1990s, and put it on an SNES cartridge. This goes well beyond the (masterful) 16-bit graphics to the ethos of the game itself."
If you like punching things, you'll like this free arcade-style endless runner from the creators of Hook Champ; it's one of the best-reviewed iOS games released so far this year.
From the Publisher: Punch Quest is an arcade-style fighting game, entirely controlled by taps with your left and right thumbs. Jab, uppercut, slam, and otherwise pummel your way through dungeons full of monsters, branching path choices, rare events, and fragile pottery. Features:
- Unlock and equip many special abilities and Supermoves.
- Ride a dinosaur that shoots lasers out of its mouth.
- Character customization that gets shown off on our friend scoreboards.
- Punch an egg that turns you into a magical gnome.
- Do quests to earn really fancy hats.
- Combo system where you launch enemies into each other from across the map.
Buy from Apple2. The Last Express 90
Adventure, $4.99, ages 12+, from DotEmu
"The Last Express may still be burdened by the click-through navigation that defined much of the genre in the past, but the marriage of gameplay and storyline remains pitch-perfect in this iOS adaptation."
An iOS remake of the 1997 PC game that asks you to solve a mystery aboard the Orient Express.
From the Publisher: Step aboard the 1914 Orient Express in this award-winning mystery adventure from Prince of Persia creator Jordan Mechner, now for the first time on iOS! JULY, 1914. With Europe on the brink of war, the luxurious Orient Express departs Paris for Constantinople, plunging American doctor Robert Cath into a maelstrom of treachery, romance, and international intrigue. The Last Express is a complete, faithful iOS version of the internationally-acclaimed 1997 PC classic.
- 20+ hours of game play
- Interact with 30+ characters who behave like actual people on a train -- moving about in real-time and conversing in their native languages
- Eavesdrop on conversations, sneak into compartments, and uncover clues
- Explore a richly detailed, historically accurate 3D recreation of the 1914 Orient Express
- Your actions affect other characters’ behavior, making every play-through different
- Rewind feature allows you to back up to any point in the story and choose a different course of action
- Playable in 5 languages: English, French, German, Italian and Spanish
EXCLUSIVE ADDITIONAL FEATURES ONLY FOR iOS:
- Unlock challenging achievements that test your sleuthing skills
- Dynamic, 3-tiered hint system created specifically for iOS
- 20 unlockable character biographies
- Unlock cinematics to replay at any time
Buy from Apple3. Girls Like Robots 89
Puzzle, $0.99, ages 4+, from Adult Swim
"Humorous, original and challenging (perhaps a little too challenging at times), Girls Like Robots should go to the top of the download list for any puzzle gamer who thinks they've seen everything the genre has to offer."
Help optimize seating arrangements in this clever logic puzzler with a distinctive hand-drawn visual style.
From the Publisher: Adult Swim Games and Popcannibal bring you a puzzle game for everyone. The characters are the playing pieces and their feelings are the rules. Arrange for happiness, but you can't please everybody all the time. Sometimes you gotta break hearts to save the day. And the day definitely needs saving: Volcanos, exploding chickens, planetary invasion and a boy who just wants to dance with a girl. FEATURES:
- Constantly evolving gameplay
- A huge cast of moody folk
- Game Center achievements and leaderboards
- Charming hand-drawn art style
- Three acts with 110 puzzles
Buy from Apple4. Need for Speed: Most Wanted 89
Racing, $6.99, ages 4+, from Electronic Arts
"While the lack of multiplayer is a huge shame, there's more than enough single player and social content in Need for Speed: Most Wanted to make it a must-buy."
This stripped-down version of the console racing game allows you to choose from (and mod) over 35 cars.
From the Publisher: Buckle up, hit the gas and hold on tight; you’re in for the ride of your life. Outrun cops, outsmart rivals – and outdrive your friends – in the most dangerous Need for Speed yet. Do you dare to be the Most Wanted?
MAKE TROUBLE, GET WANTED: Evade a relentless police force while you clash with street racers. Race and chase hot cars like the SRT Viper GTS, Porsche 911 Carrera S, Hummer H1 Alpha, and many more. Feel the intensity of no-brakes-allowed street racing with realistic full-car damage for the first time on mobile.
LEAVE YOUR MARK: Log into Origin to check the Wanted List and find out who is the Most Wanted across platforms and among your friends. Then, challenge your friends and prove your racing skills in nonstop competition.
GO FROM ZERO TO MOST WANTED…
• Choose and customize over 35 unique cars
• Race the way you want! By popular demand you can now touch or tilt to steer
• Use Mods to enhance your car and get ahead of the pack in style
• Experience the action with mind-blowing graphics and intense full-car damage
• Earn Speed Points to unlock new cars
Buy from Apple5. Devil's Attorney 89
Strategy, $2.99, ages 12+, from 1337 Game Design
"Witty, entertaining, and engaging. It looks great, has interesting dialog and offers challenging turn-based strategy gaming that will keep you playing for hours."
While the Ace Attorney series represents adventure gaming, this witty new legal game sees each trial as a series of turn-based battles, which you fight using the sleazy, materialistic answer to Phoenix Wright: Max McMann.
From the Publisher: Devil's Attorney is a turn-based strategy game set in the 80's where you play as Max McMann, a defense attorney that's high on charm but low on moral fiber. Your objective is to free all of your clients and use the money you earn to buy accessories and new furniture for your apartment; boosting your ego and unlocking new courtroom skills in the process.
Buy from Apple6. Letterpress 88
Board game, free, ages 4+, from atebits
"It's a fantastic asynchronous online word game and nothing more. It's also a fantastic example of how design can enhance the experience of playing a game, as Letterpress is a joy to look at and to use."
A new word game with a sleek modern design, the free Letterpress injects a lot more strategy into the tried-and-true Words With Friends formula.
From the Publisher: Find words, steal tiles, color the board! Letterpress is a fresh new word game for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Play against your friends using Game Center! The perfect blend of fun and strategy.
Buy from Apple7. Penny Arcade's On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness 3 88
RPG, $2.99, ages 12+, from TinkerHouse Games
"An awesome love letter to videogames and the people who love playing them. Buy it, play it, love it, and hope a sequel comes out soon."
This humorous Final Fantasy spoof comes from the folks behind the Penny Arcade website/comic and Zeboyd Games (Cthulhu Saves the World).
From the Publisher: A cunning evil Doctor, a series of Unexplainable Thefts, a Mysterious Book of Power and Enigmatic Supernatural Forces conspire to push our heroes onto a Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness! Take part in the epic saga of Tycho Ephemerous Brahe, scholar of Apocalyptic Studies turned detective, and his entirely human partner Jonathan Gabriel as they confront unspeakable evils that threaten New Arcadia, the world as we know it, and possibly the very idea of reality itself!
Now optimized for your mobile thingy, this version includes the original game released on Steam and Xbox plus:
• The Lair of the Seamstress DLC and Fanfiction packs built-in!
• Intuitive touch-enabled menus and enemy selection
• Rejiggered UI to maximize screen real estate
• 2 Control Scheme for your comfort: Fixed D-Pad, and Floating Swipe D-Pad!
• More free content, coming soon!
Buy from Apple8. Catch-22 87
Arcade, $0.99, ages 4+, from Mango Down!
"Blending together equal parts simplicity and self-induced complexity, the game is an ideal fit on the platform. Don't even bother to debate this ninety nine cent purchase. It should become a mandatory staple of your collection as soon as possible."
Relaxing and frustrating? Simple and complex? Those are the contradictions that arise when you play against the toughest possible opponent: yourself.
From the Publisher: Catch-22 is a very relaxing and frustrating one-button arcade game in which you play against yourself endlessly. You control one of two orbs that go around a Zen-like planet in a beautiful, colorful world with a relaxing and soothing soundtrack to go with it. By jumping you gather pick-ups needed to score points and evade the other you (YOUR GHOST), who is going in the opposite direction. When you collect all the pick-ups you'll switch to the other orb, leaving your previous self to become your ghost and redo all the jumps you did. It's up to you to avoid your own past jumps with more jumps! Evade yourself as long as you can, get the highest high-score and compare your skill with players & friends, all over the world!
Buy from Apple9. Super Monsters Ate My Condo! 86
Action/puzzle, $0.99, ages 9+, from Adult Swim
"It retains all of the ridiculous charm and ingenuity from its predecessor, sandwiched between more, more, more: more content, more hooks, and more fun."
This sequel to last year's fun puzzle title Monsters Ate My Condo is drawing similarly great reviews.
From the Publisher: Adult Swim's giant, hungry monsters are back for a second helping in Super Monsters Ate My Condo! Everyone's favorite colored condo-matching experience is now more frantic than ever as you try to get as many points as possible in TWO MINUTES. Make matches with helpful new condos like the bank and the clock while avoiding nasty new condos that generate nukes and acid. Spin the Monster Wheel for good luck and grab all-new boosts to send your multiplier (and your score) into the mesosphere! (FYI, the mesosphere is higher than the stratosphere -- look it up.) See below for the complete list of exciting new features!
- Two-minute time limit for fast, frenzied fun!
- Over 90 goals to complete. Can you earn the rank of “Condo Eater”?
- Equip boosts that’ll buy yourself some time or improve monster powers
- New crazy condos like the dog, nuke, clock, acid and more
- Spin the Monster Wheel for a shot at extra coins or power-ups
- Dress the monsters up in fancy hats to raise your multiplier to insane levels
- Universal app works on iPhone, iPod touch and iPad!
- Stores player data on iCloud so you can continue your progress across multiple devices
- GameCenter support to challenge your friends on the leaderboards
- Share your top scores on Facebook and Twitter
- Can you discover the “Orient Express”?
Buy from Apple10. Tentacles: Enter the Dolphin 86
Action, $0.99, ages 4+, from Microsoft
"Tentacles: Enter the Dolphin is gorgeous, fluid, and easy-to-play but hard to master. It may be a bit repetitive, but it is still lots of fun."
This odd platformer (ported from Windows phone) takes place on a microscopic scale inside a human body.
From the Publisher: Play your guts out with the black tentacled creature, Lemmy! Tap your way to victory through the insides of professor Phluff. After a freak accident, Lemmy ended up inside the mad scientist Phluff’s body. Navigate Lemmy by simple tap controls, avoid tricky obstacles and surface hazards and face the reckless eyeball creatures. Eating the eyeballs will help you recover from the merciless challenges and frantic Boss Fights presented in this action packed, top-down platformer with fascinating 3D-animated Vein, Intestine and Brain levels.
Features:
• Challenging 3D animated levels with tons of dangerous hazards
• Addictive game play with amazingly intuitive tap controls
• Awesome Boss Fights - Receive rewards for your skills
• Score Big - collect pick-ups and clear speed and damage challenges
• Achievements system
• Easy mode
| Game | Genre | Buy It | Price | Rating | Metascore |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skyriders | Racing/action | App store | $1.99 | 4+ | 84 |
| Electric Tentacle | Action | App store | $0.99 | 4+ | 83 |
| Polara | Action | App store | $0.99 | 9+ | 83 |
| Super Bunny Breakout | Arcade | App store | $0.99 | 12+ | 83 |
| Funky Smugglers | Action | App store | $0.99 | 4+ | 82 |
| Snail Bob (2012) | Action/puzzle | App store | $0.99 | 4+ | 80 |
A few to avoid
Gameloft's NFL Pro 2013 received an abysmal 35 from critics, while MechWarrior: Tactical Command 46, Square Planet 53, and Blade Guardian 58 also failed to impress reviewers.
What are you playing?
Have you tried any of the games above? If so, what did you think of them? Are there any other new iPhone or iPad games that deserve a download? Let us know in the comments section below.
