Tuesday, March 31st, 2015

Crowntakers takes the crown today.

I included Pockie Heroes for laughs. You have to either laugh (or cry) when these software companies take totally trademarked material and republish it straight under Apple's nose, and the Apple overlords don't even blink an eye. It looks to be another automated RPG battler where you evolve your heroes into more powerful forms and work your way up the food chain like Pac-Man. Not a game, but a chuckle. Arthas, Illidan, Lantresor, Sylvanas, Baine, and even Thrall make an appearance.

Crowntakers
Type: Strategy
Price: $5
★★★

Gunpowder
Type: Puzzle
Price: $5
★★

Marvel Mighty Heroes
Type: Dual-stick adventure
Price: Free
★

Cube Koala
Type: Puzzle
Price: Free
★

Tribal Wars 2
Type: City-builder
Price: Free
★

Pockie Heroes
Type: RPG battler
☆

Monday, March 30th, 2015

Five Dragons
Type: Card
Price: Free
★★★

Pie in the Sky: A Pizza Odyssey
Type: Runner
Price: $3
★★

Times of Vikings
Type: Time-management
Price: Free
★

Saturday, March 28th, 2015

Due to work this week, I'm updating this rather late. As such, there are a bunch of new games that are worth a look. Star Wars Rebels initially is free, but to unlock all 30+ levels you need to spend $5 (only the first few are free).

Star Wars Rebels - Recon
Type: Platformer
Price: $5
★★★

Jump'N'Shoot Attack
Type: Platformer
Price: $2
★★

Gamebook: Pocket RPG
Type: Interactive fiction
Price: $3
★★

Space Bounties, Inc.
Type: Roguelike
Price: $2
★★

Jewel Legends: Bloodmoon
Type: Puzzle
Price: Free
★

Final Fantasy: Record Keeper
Type: RPG battler
Price: Free
★

Dark Slash: Hero
Type: Swipe fighter
Price: Free
★

Compass Point: West
Type: City-builder
Price: Free
★

Fast and Furious: Legacy
Type: Racing
Price: Free
★

Mazecraft - Maze Survival
Type: Puzzle
Price: $1
☆

Spacebeard
Type: Runner
Price: $2
☆

Breath of Light
Type: Puzzle
Price: $3
☆

Dungeon of Madness
Type: Puzzle
Price: $2
☆

The Lost Lands: Dinosaur Hunter
Type: FPS
Price: $2
☆

Epic Space Battle
Type: Space sim
Price: Free
☆

New rating system

New rating system:
★ - F2P freemium model
★★ - B2P freemium model
★★★ - Daily iOS quality
★★★★ - (rare, see below)
☆ - Honorable mention

All games included on this site "stand out from the crowd", although ★ star and ★★ star games carry added economic systems where currency purchases constitute a large portion of game progression, or included advertisements overshadow gameplay. ★★★ games generally follow a "premium" model or the F2P/B2P freemium model is minimal if non-existent.

Before deciding which games to include on this site, I assume most software released on the App Store uses lockbox (daily random items) or rental (money for accelerated progression) design. Very few games use expansion design (paying for additional content).

While iOS games have come a long way since introduction as mobile apps, the App Store still functions primarily as a mobile arcade, with small portions of money ($1) in exchange for playing simple software packages. Except in exceptional circumstances, App Store games should not be considered on par with console games, given the lower price margins ($20 for the costliest quality App, for example). However, sometimes iOS gems appear in the store and I do try to highlight those. ★★★★ denotes a game far above normal quality for what is normally released on the App Store.

Note: Most games I post on this site, I don't purchase or try myself, only preview. Take that into account when judging whether to buy or not buy a product. This is not a review site. My intentions are only to highlight stand-outs. If you want quality reviews, try one of the two blogs linked to from this site, Touch Arcade or Pocket Tactics.

Tuesday, March 24th, 2015

Dungeon Hero RPG
Type: Roguelike
Price: Free
★★★

Amid a literal slosh of slot machines, flappy clones, and oversized platformers comes this little gem. Don't let the free price scare you though.

Looking through 80 pages of dross was worth it for this one.

Monday, March 23rd, 2015

Donsol
Type: Card
Price: $1
☆

Adventure Cards
Type: Card
Price: Free
★★★

Terra Monsters 2
Type: Monster Trainer
Price: Free
★

David Mondou-Labbe, the producer of Donsol (developed by John Eternal), appears to have some very original and interesting games on the iOS store. A very creative, competent, and up-and-coming game designer/producer. I hope he gets more press!

You may have missed...

The last few days have been pretty dry. Here are a couple of gems that popped into the store in-between the release of Sid Meier's Starships and my last post.

The Hero of Kendrickstone
Type: Interactive fiction
Price: $3
★★★

Chains of Darkness
Type: RPG battler
Price: Free
★

Thursday, March 19th, 2015

Tobuscus Adventures: Wizards
Type: Tower defense
Price: $5
★★

Alien Star Menace
Type: Tactical
Price: Free
☆

SwapQuest
Type: Puzzle RPG
Price: $3
★★★

Stan Lee's Hero Command
Type: Dual-stick adventure
Price: Free
★

KromacelliK
Type: Abstract adventure
Price: $2
☆

TouchTone™
Type: Sound puzzle
Price: $3
★★★

Stormblades
Type: Swipe fighter
Price: Free
★

Magenta Arcade
Type: SHMUP (shipless)
Price: $2
★★★

Cosmic Explorer: Redshift
Type: Survival
Price: Free
☆