All Features List

Let's be honest about something: tower defense games on the iPhone are a dime a dozen these days. The big problem is that, by now, there are a ton of really good entries in the genre, which means that it's increasingly difficult to create a tower defense game that actually stands out from the pack. Thankfully, Chillingo's Defender Chronicles - Legend of the Desert King manages to not only stand out, but also maintain a sense of challenge while staying fun. Read more»

When it first hit the scene back in 2007, Puzzle Quest was a breath of fresh air.  Combining Bejeweled-style gameplay with an epic role-playing adventure, the game pushed the boundaries of what could be done with simple match-3 mechanics.  Now nearly two years later, this puzzling adventure has hit the iPhone. Read more»

Following a web version, handheld electronic game, and even a recent television game show adaptation, the artificial intelligence-based phenomenon known as 20Q has arrived on the iPhone App Store as 20Q Mind Reader. Via a series of questions, the game attempts to guess the item or object on your mind, and this new portable iteration throws in bonus anagram puzzles and other unlockable features for added value. Read more»

Between the inspired work coming out of Telltale Games, the return of old classics thanks to digital distribution, and the seemingly endless parade of Nancy Drew and Agatha Christie mysteries, fans of the point-and-click adventure seem to have limitless options at their disposal.  It's in this climate that LucasArts decided to bring their nearly 20 year-old pirate-themed masterpiece The Secret of Monkey Island back from the depths.

 

The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition is a direct port of the 1990 PC classic, but with two big improvements: a graphical facelift brings some gorgeous hand-drawn art to the forefront, and voice talent has been provided for every piece of dialogue in the game.  For veterans of the original release, these two additions alone make the purchase a no-brainer.  But what about for those new to the franchise?

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Like any good word game, the concept of WordFu is simple.  You'll be given seven lettered dice and a set time limit.  The object of WordFu is to spell as many words as you can with the seven letters you've been provided.  The challenge here lies not in the gameplay, but in your own familiarity with the english language. Read more»

Billed as the first ever "picnic defense" game, Must. Eat. Birds. runs with that quirky premise and offers one of the more amusing and aesthetically pleasing titles on the App Store. Naturally, colorful characters and flashy menus alone don't make for a great game - luckily, the arcade-style pull-and-fling gameplay mostly delivers, creating an original and entertaining option for iPhone owners.

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UNO has started to sprout up on every gaming platform you can imagine.  From Xbox Live to Facebook and everywhere in between, the people behind the classic card game have been more than happy to let us dabble in a little old school nostalgia.  It was only a matter of time until UNO made its way to the iPhone. Read more»

Anyone who sampled Terminator's recent big-screen revival might well be convinced that a time where machines run the world is inevitable, but thankfully, right now you'd be hard pushed to find a robot that can delve much beyond opening a tin of soup for you. They might well have the brains, but our tech-laden friends just don't have the personality to push us off the top spot. Well, that's apart from the robots in Reiner Knizia's Robot Master, of course. Read more»

I'm not sure I can identify all of the elements of an ‘excellent' time management (or multi-tasking) game, but a compelling character is sure one of them. So, what is a great character? For me, it's that magic that happens when the artwork makes you smile. When you look at the features and facial expressions, the clothes and the hair, and you say to yourself: "I want to help her." That's the kind of feeling that came over me instantly when I met Sara, the star of Ranch Rush from FreshGames. She's spunky, she's got that get-‘er-done attitude, she's got an overwhelming job in front of her, and she needs my help. Let's dig in! Read more»

Okay, I'll admit that with a funny name like StoneLoops! of Jurassica (what is a stone loop anyway?) and screenshots that look like Zuma or Luxor, I had fairly low expectations for this very popular iPhone game. Wow, was I pleasantly surprised to find that not only is StoneLoops! of Jurassica worthy of being mentioned in the same sentence as its more famous predecessors, but also the entire package adds up to brontosaurus-sized fun! Read more»

How much money would you pay for a few minutes of entertainment? If the answer is a dollar, then The Moron Test fits the bill. This set of brain-teasers designed to test your problem-solving abilities is great fun while it lasts - the problem is that it can be mastered less than half an hour and there's no real replay value. Read more»

Number-philes out there sick of Sudoku have another game they can sink their teeth into with Quadion's NineGaps. The game is relatively simple, place nine numbers in nine empty gaps on the board that's setup in a three by three grid. I'm guessing you get why they named the game NineGaps? Read more»

We have this little game we play at our house. My kids like to sneak up and surprise me with a "boo" or some other abrupt noise, just to see the look on my face. Apparently, my facial expressions are an endless source of humor for them. Of course, sometimes I return the favor - but they don't always laugh when I startle them. So, what has this got to do with Stuck Genie by Cobra Mobile (published by Warner Brothers). Well . . .  it is one of those games that kind of sneaks up on you, and before you know it, "bam!" you're hooked (facial expression not included). Read more»

If our children learned their history from video games they would probably believe that the only two things we did in medieval times were slay dragons and siege castles. Scratch the dragons and that's not too far off. Knights Onrush embraces that classic medieval past-time of sieging neighbors castles and places you at the helm of defender. Can you protect your palatial estate from hordes of adorable little knights? Read more»

He looks like a chicken, but Toki Tori is one brave bird. He's a fearless feathered friend on a mission to fetch his fettered eggs from bad guys like porcupines, hedgehogs and other prickly enemies. From the first moment he blinks his cute little eyes, you'll find Toki Tori is an adorable puzzle platformer that delivers hours of scratch-your-head, puzzle-solving fun. Read more»

How do you fit an entire life in your pocket?  It's a tough question, but it's one that The Sims 3 needs to answer.  Bringing the best selling video game franchise of all time to the iPhone is a big challenge, even for EA.  From birth to death and all of the relationships, careers and home furnishings that happen in between, The Sims is known for its epic scope.  Can all of that really fit onto a portable device?

The Sims 3 on the iPhone does an excellent job of taking the complete Sims 3 package from the full PC version and downsizes it into a portable-friendly package.  And while that downsizing means that a good portion of what is offered in the full version is missing, the developers managed to retain the one thing that was truly important: The Sims 3 experience.

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Games, even of the casual sort, are often associated with concepts like frenzy and competition. It's not too often that a video game will strive to create a laid back, almost meditative state of play. Zen Bound does just that.  Who would have ever guessed that we'd not only be talking about a game whose entire goal is to wrap objects in string, but that we'd be raving about it? Read more»

There's nothing like curling up by the fire with a good mystery novel on a dark, rainy night. I love trying to figure out which clues lead to evidence and which trails are red herrings. So, naturally, I was intrigued when I saw the screenshots of TikGames' hidden object game Agents of Interpol.  

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Are you a "foodie?" Do you find yourself recording those Paula Dean and Giada shows because you don't want to miss a good recipe or preparation tip? Well, if you're a foodie and a gamer, then you'll love the new Cooking Quest for iPhone published by Big Fish Games and developed by GameMill and Bubbler Media. Read more»

What could be better than a day at the spa?  So relaxing . . . so intoxicating . . . so expensive!!  If you are looking for more affordable alternative, then try spending some down-time with Sally's Spa for the iPhone. Read more»

Word games have been tremendously popular over the last few years, and the best of the best have been making their way to the iPhone.  But as well loved as games like TextTwist and Bookworm Adventures might be, few games are as synonymous with the wordplay genre as Scrabble.  But can a competitive crossword game successfully make the leap to a predominantly single-player device?

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Shiny colorful jewels, pretty pastoral scenery, lovely soothing music... what more could a girl want? I feel like the developers have taken my wish list for what makes a great arcade puzzle matching game and checked all the boxes as they rolled it up into one beautiful little package called GemDrop Deluxe. Read more»

I generally don’t like to go to sequels of blockbuster movies because my expectations are so high based on the success of the original that I’m almost always disappointed. Well, one of the challenges of writing reviews is that sometimes I’m tasked with judging the pros and cons of an iPhone game that is based on a successful PC/Mac game like Virtual Villagers: The Lost Children. I realize there are really two different audiences to consider: the “fans” and the “newbies. Read more»

Except for playing games, few things in life are more enjoyable to me than curling up with a good mystery novel. And when it comes to foreign travel destinations, Great Britain is number one on my list. So, you can imagine my delight when I downloaded Hidden Mysteries: Buckingham Palace. Mystery and London rolled up into one fun-filled, hidden object adventure. Sign me up!  Read more»

As an absolute trivia nerd, I met the announcement of Trivial Pursuit for the iPhone with both excitement and dread. Trivia nerds around the world agree, there are two things that Trivial Pursuit is known for; insanely difficult questions and creating a fantastic group experience. But the iPhone is aimed at keeping things simple, and generally focuses on the single player. Could EA somehow overcome these cross-purposes and make a great portable trivia experience despite this situation? Read more»