SB Recommends iOS Games

Deets: A very playable take on the 2d/3d world-spinning thing that we've been seeing bits and pieces of over the years

glossolalia: 1-bit Ninja is the best semi-traditional platforming experience I've had on the iPhone. it's hard because it's designed to be hard, not because of the controls. the 3D-ness is a cute touch.

gatotsu2501: Ridiculously hyped physics-based puzzler that is actually pretty good.

Felix: Would actually be a classic instead of a Finnish genre empire if they cut out about half of the less well-designed levels.

gatotsu2501: If you're going to play Another World, this is probably the version you should use. The control scheme works better than you'd expect, while the visuals are remastered and the sadistic original difficulty toned down to make the experience more palatable for the gamer of the twenty-first century. (Don't worry purists, the original visuals and difficulty, in addition to a new harder-than-hard mode, are also available right out of the gate.)

Kinto: Neat puzzle game (of the numerous individual puzzles variety rather than Tetris-style). Very nice UI, decent level design, very simple idea.

Deets: Maybe too delightful.

gatotsu2501: Slick, quick, beautifully simple, endlessly replayable and super cool. This is the model iPhone action game.

gatotsu2501: For a cheap mobile spinoff skinned with reused assets from a 1998 game, this is way better than it has any right to be. A very fun “versus” falling-block game with RPG elements that, oddly, work. It's the sort of game that always keeps you playing for just one more round.

glosolalia: I'm not sure ElectroMaster completely works but it's a charmingly weird attempt at fusing an 80s Taito-y arcade game style with touch controls. Apparently there's a sequel called HungryMaster I'll have to check out.

gatotsu2501: Yet another entry in the ever-growing subgenre of nostalgia-based faux-retro JRPGs. It's completely shameless, but if you have any love in your heart for the 16-bit games it convincingly mimics (in particular its chief inspiration, Final Fantasy V) you'll be suckered in all the same. Far more than the poseur (yet still fun) “4 Warriors of Light”, this feels like it could have actually been made during the era it's trying to evoke. It just gets tons of little touches down pat.

JChastain: Forget-Me-Not is really fucking good.

Deets: This game had completely unplayable “invisible d-pad” controls that did not work for me in any reliable way on either the iphone or the ipad, even after about an hour of play.

galaxyghost: iPhone game of the year for me.

Intentionally Wrong: Playing this feels more like I'm trying to overcome myself than my opponents, since I've noticed I tend to win any match where I spend at least 5 minutes simulating before I send in my orders, and only lose if I get careless and don't take the time that I need. Perpetual vigilance and attention to detail is rewarded.

JoeX111: I love the asynchronous multiplayer. It's like chess by mail with gunfire.

Dracko: You should be playing Frozen Synapse anyhow if you've got nothing better to do than completely miss the grotesque irony of a cyberpunk tale about violent corporate warfare using proxy soldiers.

Ymer: I think you might like it actually. It's XCOM style turn-based combat only both players turns take place at the same time after they've been planned and engaged. You can even simulate whatever move you think your opponent might make during the planning phase but you're of course in all likelihood gonna guess completely wrong about it. The multiplayer is also asynchronous similar to Words with friends/Wordfeud so you can have multiple games going at once and not have to make your move in any of them for days if you so wish.
Also a campaign with a real weird GitS-like storyline or something.

The Blueberry Hill: Tight, turn-based tactical game. Really great as a play-it-when-you're ready asynchronous multi thing, with lots of options for your you people, and for simulating the behaviours of your opponents'.

glossolalia: A ball rolling game which I guess there's a billion of but Gears seems like it's probably the best. I love how breakable the level design is and the touch controls are solid. It's a 3D iOS game that makes the most of being in 3D and feels right on the iPhone, and those two things are rare enough alone. I guess Zen Bound fits that description too.

Deets: Stylish music game from the Space Invaders: Infinity Gene guys

another god: It's a really well done snake game. I play it whenever I feel like playing a phone game.

gatotsu2501: Canabalt meets Balloon Fight, only with machine gun jetpacks and Mad Max motorbike powerups and stuff, all nestled within a meta-game goal/reward structure that's addictive without being underhanded. All of which is to say that it's, y'know, pretty sweet.

Kinto: Escher paintings: the game. Gorgeous presentation. Slightly creepy vibe.

Kitten ClanClan: A charming take on the Tower Defense genre that managed to make me overcome my dislike of it. Plants vs. Zombies offers a startlingly large amount of content and a lengthy “story mode,” as well as simple, but addicting mechanics. Serious strategy enthusiasts might find themselves a little bored, however.

Kinto: Fish. Dive. Wiggle. Snag. Catch. Shoot. Kill. Kill again.

Sniper Honeyviper: A free iOS shmup with lock-on missiles that's old enough to work with any hardware version. I think someone notable worked on it, but I can't remember who.

colour_thief: A pretty fresh and enjoyable puzzle concept. It's a pure puzzle game, by which I mean there's no time pressure or randomness. Just carefully designed levels with a great learning curve, easing you into ever cleverer puzzles. It's not flashy to look at, but it's a really classy and elegantly done. There are very few game elements even by puzzle game standards, and the levels are minimalistic single-screen affairs. It's all so simple, and yet the solutions get pretty crazy… It'll take you a while to get through all the levels.
If that sounds like fun at all, you'll probably get at least a dollar's worth of fun at any rate.

ArOne: You control an Asteroids style ship by tilting and try to survive. There are power ups that give you an edge like a fire ball that fires ahead of you so you have to learn to control your tilts and force field and spike bubbles.

Kinto: Kind of like Breakout meets mini golf. Except you can actually control the ball, so unlike breakout it's actually fun! Also tim made it.

Kinto: Devilish puzzle game. Will make you hate Ninja Bears.

The Drunken Samurai: The Ministry of Silly Walks: The Game

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