Top 10 best iPhone and iPad games: January 2012

We're only one month into 2012, yet the App Store has already thrown some essential new apps our way. Like seriously addictive time sinks Triple Town and Order Up, or the simple but hyperactive thrills of Super Crate Box and Run Roo Run.

As ever, iOS has given us some fresh twists on tired genres, like Unstoppable Gorg which puts its own 'spin' on tower defence, and Puzzlejuice, which mashes various puzzle favourites into a thick gooey paste.

To celebrate this year's first month of games, we've rounded up just about every game that came out in January, paired them off in a gruelling fight-to-the-death tournament, and watched on as they tore virtual limb from virtual limb.

Here are the ten survivors: the very best iPhone and iPad games of January 2012.

Super Crate Box
By Vlambeer - buy on iPhone and iPad

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Super Crate Box is probably the only game in which '54' is considered an impressive score. Most games would give you double that for just looking at an enemy.

But, there's no less excitement in Vlambeer's pixellated caper. The game gives you just a single miserly point every time you snatch a crate. Problem is, each box hides a random weapon, meaning your gun is swapped every time you score.

That's fine when the box contains a rocket launcher or a giant laser cannon. Less good when it stores a pair of weak handguns or, heaven forbid, a self-decapitating disc gun. The juggling of weapons is a dizzy thrill - and, believe it or not, it works wonders on touchscreens.

Triple Town
By Spry Fox - download free on iPhone and iPad

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I've dreamt about Tetris bricks, seen phantom Crackdown orbs on real-world rooftops, and, now, I can't get to sleep because of the nuisance bushes and trees and bears of Triple Town.

It's a match-three game at heart, but with a strategic backbone that requires you to always be a few moves ahead. You plop down objects so that three adjacent items merge: three bushes become a tree, for instance, and three trees become a house.

Juggling all the different elements to avoid boxing yourself in or wasting valuable objects requires some serious thought, and bettering your friend's high score will keep you up all night - tightly ensared in the game's carefully engineered grasp.

Puzzlejuice
By Colaboratory - buy on iPhone and iPad

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At first glance, Puzzlejuice interweaves a pair of games that don't quite mix. It's basically half-Tetris (as you slot together falling bricks) and half-Boggle (as perfect rows turn into a sea of alphabet letters for you to find words in).

The analytical hunt for words and the spatial reconfiguration of blocks call on two very different regions of your brain, and trying to do both simultaneously is about as easy as playing Connect 4 while riding a horse.

But, once your brain gets used to it, combining the two types of games is a thrill. It relies on fast multitasking and a shrewd application of spare seconds. There's a potent sense of urgency that's lost in a lot of puzzlers, making Puzzlejuice essential.

Hero Academy
By Robot Entertainment - download free on iPhone

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The magic of Hero Academy, a quirky tactics game from a group of ex-Ensemble developers, is that it's entirely asynchronous. By storing your match in the cloud, you can leave while waiting for your opponent.

So, when it's your go, you can deploy a handful of units on tiles across the battlefield, buff your best soldiers, attack enemy units, and try your darndest to smash your opponent's gem.

When it's not your turn, you can - I don't know - watch TV or do some hoovering. Whatever: your iPhone will ping you a push notification when it's your go. It's the tactics game for busy commanders.

Jazz: Trump's Journey
By EggBall - buy on iPhone and iPad

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You have to admire the ambition of Jazz: Trump's Journey: a musical adventure set in 1920s New Orleans, and a loose biographical take on the life of Louis Armstrong. It's so unique that we can overlook the story's messy grammar.

It's also a surprisingly good platformer, with some light puzzle elements. Young Trump bounces on boxes and waddles through smoky clubs. And by parping on his magic trumpet, time helpfully stands still.

Best of all: the game always stays true to its themes of jazz and The Big Easy. Sepia photographs of old Treme are sewn into backdrops, and the game's soundtrack gets more complex as the story introduces more instruments. It's an absolute delight for the eyes and ears.

Paper Monsters
By Crescent Moon Games - buy on iPhone and iPad

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Crescent Moon's whimsical platformer Paper Monsters has obviously been inspired by a certain plumber in a red hat. In this game, the boxy cardboard protagonist can throw fireballs, he can bounce on giant mushrooms, and boss fights end with a hat tip to Mario 2.

But, this game's paper motif gives it a unique feel. When Mario picks up a fire flower, his clothes turn white. When the hero of Paper Monsters grabs a similar power-up, he transforms into an origami dragon.

In fact, everything in this game is made from paper, cardboard, balls of cotton wool, and other Art Attack favourites. It's a cute visual style, which nicely complements the carefree fun of its platforming duties.

Run Roo Run
By 5th Cell - buy on iPhone or buy on iPad

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We're used to 5th Cell failing to fully execute its ambitious ideas. Scribblenauts gave you 20,000 nouns to play with, but you could beat every level with a "Vending Machine" and a "Balloon". Drawn to Life lets you illustrate your own game, but most people just drew a bunch of willies.

Run Roo Run is off to a good start, though. It's a one-button platformer in which you safely guide a resolute kangaroo through dangerous five-second levels. The developer promised new stages every week, and, so far, it's pulled it off.

One-tap games are nothing special on iOS, but Australia-themed Roo is imaginative and charming, so we're happy to spend our taps in its colourful world. Let's see if 5th Cell keeps its word this time.

Smash Cops
By Hutch - buy on iPhone and iPad

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With there being no buttons on the iPhone and iPad, iOS developers have had to 'reinvent the wheel' when it comes to car games. DrawRace lets you doodle out paths, Real Racing employs the accelerometer for the tilt-to-steer mechanic, and Smash Cops has tried something completely new.

As you bust around town, chasing after perps and ramming your cop cruiser into their expensive paintwork, your finger acts like a polar opposite magnet. The car speeds away from your digit, swerving left when you touch the right-hand side.

It takes some getting used to, but it works surprisingly well. Whether you're charging after criminals or just taking some practice laps around the police test course, it's a refreshing way to play this satisfying crash sim.

Unstoppable Gorg
By Futuremark Games Studio - buy on iPad

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When Futuremark boasts that Unstoppable Gorg is a "revolutionary" tower defence game, the developer isn't just blowing hot air. The battlefield consists of concentric circles that emanate from your space station, and your defensive satellites can orbit in circles - in full 360-degree revolutions, if you will.

This clever twist makes it worth revisiting the well-trodden tower defence genre for the 3,678th time. Yes, you raise funds to buy towers, and, yes, you use them to stop waves of baddies, but letting you shift your entire frontline allows for some interesting strategies.

The game - which launched simultaneously on PC and iPad - has some nifty production values, too. It's a complete take off of '50s sci-fi B movies: complete with grainy black-and-white footage, disastrous production values, and brilliant voice acting.

Order Up! To Go
By SuperVillain Studios - download free on iPhone and iPad

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Flipping burgers isn't the most aspirational career in the world (though it can't be much worse than being forced to play every new Angry Birds level...), but Order Up! To Go at least shows how this put-upon profession can be fun and mentally stimulating.

It's a very simple Cooking Mama experience (comprising mini-games where you chop tomatoes, fill up coke cups, flip burger patties, etc.) with a strict time-based twist. As you cook each order, you'll want to work quickly to make the most cash. So, you're gonna have to juggle some tasks.

This means zipping around the 3D kitchen, having fries sizzle in fat and watching burgers cook, while trying to keep everything in sync and not letting any soda cup overflow.

Despite its cute visuals and jokey humour, it's a truly demanding game that will test your ability to multitask and stay on top.

2 comments:

  1. Leebo9...

    Fantastic blog post, saw on...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Synergy Extreme Virtual Staff10 April 2012 at 05:29

    Work Online...

    Although this has not been proven and maybe in the future it has the capacity to...

    ReplyDelete

 
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