20 New iPhone and iPad Games You Should Be Playing This Week

This week sees a healthy mix of new iPhone and new iPad games, with hotly anticipated titles, a few surprises, and some potential hidden gems.

So what are you waiting for? Stop reading and get playing!

NHL 2K

Hooray hockey! It’s been a long while since 2K brought their brand of frozen pond stickball to the App Store – but was it worth the wait? Find out in our NHL 2K review.

• Download ($7.99)

Splot

Looking for a crazy new one-touch platformer that looks like it might scratch the same itch that Rayman Jungle Run did? Frozenbyte is ready to deliver with their debut mobile effort.

• Download ($3.99)

Divine Might

Dungeon crawling from Kabam? Their past experiments outside of their strategy-heavy comfort zone have been good fun (Blastron, Blast Zone!, Puzzle Trooper), so this is one we’ll definitely be giving a play.

• Download (free)

Puzzle to the Center of the Earth

The promotional material bills this as Spelunky meets match-3, but after some time with it I’m more inclined to call it ‘Mr. Driller at a leisurely pace.’ As a Mr. Driller fan, I consider this a very good thing.

• Download (free)

RETRY

Pilot a plane through treacherous landscapes using only one-touch, Flappy Bird style controls. You’ll hate this one as much as you’ll love it.

• Download (free)

Republique Episode 3: Ones and Zeroes

Camouflaj has been putting out new episodes of this action-stealth series at a nicely staggered pace, so if you’re starting to miss this one, it’s time to dive back in.

• Download ($4.99 IAP)

Swap Heroes

Role-playing games get a casual, puzzling makeover in Swap Heroes, a game about swapping your characters to activate their abilities while keeping your whole party alive.

• Download ($0.99)

Agents of Storm

Flare Games, aka the folks behind Royal Revolt, have just snuck this high end free-to-play strategy game onto the App Store. It looks a little like a base-building game, but with a surprising nautical twist.

• Download (free)

Tilt to Live: Gauntlet’s Revenge

The third release in the Tilt to Live franchise is all about surviving a deadly obstacles course, aka “gauntlet.” Can you survive using nothing but the power of tilt?

• Download ($2.99)

Rival Stars Basketball

PikPok has had more than a few cool sports games in the past. In their latest release, it looks like they’re taking the tried and true formula of Flick Kick Football Legends and applying it to basketball.

• Download (free)

SAS: Zombie Assault 4

It’s almost Halloween, and that can mean just one thing: SCARY DAMNED GAMES. NinjaKiwi’s games rarely disappoint, so if you’re looking for some action-heavy zombie shooting this week, this is probably the way to go.

• Download (free)

Partia 2

You probably haven’t heard of Partia, which is a real shame, because if you like games like Fire Emblem, it’s an iOS must buy. As of today, you can now “must buy” more of it.

• Download ($5.99)

QbQbQb

The developers are saying it’s Tetris meets Super Hexagon. Even if it’s a lie, don’t you think that boldness alone is worth your $4?

• Download ($3.99)

Cops N Robbers 2: Block Force Pro

Try as we might to understand the App Store, there are some crazes that we just don’t get. Blocky, Minecraft-looking games with simple premises by JoyDo Entertainment tend to do really well for some reason. If you’re one of those people who knows why and keeps buying them, you’ll be pleased to know there’s another one for purchase.

• Download ($0.99)

Mmm Fingers

I don’t like cutting my finger in real life. Why would I want to do it here? If you’re looking for a new avoidance game, this might be the one to grab. Just watch your fingers.

• Download (free)

Black Tower Enigma

A “retro style riddle-solving fantasy adventure,” according to its iTunes description. The first riddle seems to be “what does that even mean?!” If you like puzzles, though, it seems like this might be a great pick.

• Download ($0.99)

Sleep Attack TD

Just when we thought we’d seen everything there was in tower defense, Sleep Attack TD comes along to prove us wrong. Players can spin parts of the map to guide enemies to different paths as they see fit.

• Download ($2.99)

Battle Academy 2: Eastern Front

Top notch strategy studio Slitherine is taking their war campaign to Russia. Bonus: this one offers cross-platform multiplayer against your PC-playing friends.

• Download ($19.99)

Peninsular War Battles

Do you prefer your strategy warfare to come from a more gentlemanly age? Hunted Cow Studios (another power player in the world of mobile strategy wargaming) sets players into motion as either the French, Spanish or British during Napoleon’s conquest attempts in Spain and Portugal.

• Download ($9.99)

Necklace of Skulls: The Gamebook

Earlier this summer, Cubus Games wowed gamebook fans with Heavy Metal Thunder. Now they’re back, and this time they’re adapting a classic tale of Mayan adventure by Dave Morris.

• Download ($2.99)