Here’s a quick brain dump of recent purchases for both my iPod Touch and iPad along with the stars I rated them on iTunes.
Zombie Escape (*****)- The most fun I’ve had with those path-drawing games (e.g. Flight Control, Harbor Master) because of the fun power-ups, simple economy, nice scenario variety, achievements, and survival mode. Easily worth a buck.
Dark Nebula Ep. 2 (*****) - As beautifully polished and fun as Dark Nebula 1. Granted, you’re going to beat it an hour, but it’s a freakin’ dollar. I paid $4 for my latte this afternoon and finished it in 10 minutes. Plus, it’s by the former lead designer on Battlefield 2.
Bird Strike (Gold) (***) - A tilt-based vertical jumper similar to Doodle Jump. Some charm, but the memorization-based gameplay wears off quickly. Just ok.
iWordz Mystery (**) - In my desperate search for good word-based games, I often buy things of dubious value, and this is one of them. It’s a hangman-based game where you read all the definitions for the mystery word and then attempt to guess it. In my first play through I got to about 30 words in a row and quit through boredom. Might be fun for kids, though.
Knights Onrush - (***) A variation on the Tower Defense them where you have a single fortress to defend and hordes of enemies that you must defeat by either flicking them to their deaths, or using the upgradeable equipment you’ve purchased. Heavily twitch-based and the cramped screen of the iPhone makes this better on the iPad.
Miner Disturbance (****) Get it? It’s a pun! Miner disturbance? Sigh. Apart from the regrettable pun in the title, this is actually a really fun game. You’re a dig-dug like digger who’s got to go underground to find copper, silver, gold and artifacts. But the constant threat of cave-ins, drowning, and trolls keeps things interesting. The only issue that prevents 5 stars is the at-times frustrating virtual dpad that makes digging up and to the left/right an act of supreme self-control.
Monster Dash (**) - Like Cannabalt and get’s just as old just as quickly. Not for me.
HexaLex (***) - Did I mention the word game thing? This one features a Scrabble-like board but you have to place words Crosswords-style where every adjacent word has to spell something, even if it’s a 2-letter nonsense word that only exists in the mind of Scrabble players. Fiendishly difficult to place words at times makes the fun premise crash to a halt.
