Since forcing people into casinos is frowned upon in civilized society, gaming companies are always trying to figure out how to turn more people into players. Showdown: The Card Game is one of these efforts, hoping its all-out mobile and social blitz this fall will get newcomers to hit the felt. And with its simplified mash-up of several familiar casino games, it just might.
Nobody likes being the new guy. You get a tiny cubicle, minimal benefits, and everyone sees you as a great source to dump work on. What are you going to do, say no? You're the new guy, and you very desperately want to keep your job.
When you read the description of Burger Joint in the App Store they claim their game is the result if you "smashed Tetris and Bejeweled together," but that's a lie. In fact, Burger Joint is a direct imitation of the old NES and Gameboy title Yoshi, but without most of the fun and whimsy. This is a game which could have picked up the puzzle game mantle and done neat things with it, but instead opted to take the lazy way out and thus suffers for it.
The gameplay of Galaxy Express doesn't bring anything new to the table really for the puzzle genre. You need to guide your ship from point A to point B by placing arrows on a grid map to make your ship turn or change direction to avoid obstacles. The PC game Rush and the old Sega game ChuChu Rocket instantly spring to mind, and I'm sure there are more like those as well - but that doesn't mean it's not fun.