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Sorcery! 2 Review
Part two of Steve Jackson's Sorcery! series has no time for altruism. If anything, the second chapter of Inkle's interactive repurposing of the '80s gamebook series is openly contemptuous of do-gooders. I'm exploring the cityport of Khare, wandering through its cruel streets trying to reach the North Gate, and continue my quest to retrieve the Crown of Kings. The interface from the first chapter is back, complete with its handsome 3D map, alphabetical spellcasting system, and turn-bas…
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Octagon - A Minimal Arcade Game with Maximum Challenge Review
Octagon is a game of borrowed ideas. It obviously takes its inspiration from titles such as Super Hexagon and Boson X, putting the player a punishing set of reaction-testing trials. Each stage consists of a tubular maze. You take control of a small octagon, which you must guide through the maze by swiping left and right. If you need to transfer to a platform directly above, then you swipe up to trigger a leap to the ceiling. If you can survive sixty seconds, you will cross the finish…
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Dwice - new puzzle arcade game from Tetris inventor Review
Dwice is the latest game from Tetris creator Alexey Pajitnov. As the city sleeps, the populace is unaware that the only thing that stands between them and utter destruction is a quick finger, and an even faster thinker The game itself is deceptively simple. Geometric shapes are descending upon the city. Tap on a shape and drag it through a matching shape, and both will disappear. The aim is to drag your finger through as many matching shapes as possible in a single swipe, thereby buil…
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Pocket Titans Review
Pocket Titans is a turn based strategy title that's easy for anyone to pick up and play, and utilizes a unique control system. In most turn based strategy games, you use movement and action points to put your character in the most advantageous position possible, allowing you attack your enemy while avoiding repercussions. This priciple still applies to Pocket Titans, but instead of moving players, you move the landscape. Each stage takes place on a five by five square grid. Each row…
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LEGO® The Lord of the Rings™ Review
The LEGO games are, and always have been, about teamwork - friends coming together to assemble contraptions, collect shiny studs, and dismantle evil one brick at a time. It was only a matter of time, then, before developer Traveller's Tales turned its attention to that most famous of literary friendships, Tolkien's Fellowship of the Ring. The result is a game that provides a slick and entertaining interactive abridgement of the Lord of the Rings movies, even if the gameplay itself is…
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Everyday Spelunker Review
Spelunker is a platformer created in 1983, remembered fondly by owners of PCs and Commodore 64s. The game was notoriously difficult, and falling to an untimely death was a frequent occurance. Factor in traps, hazards, and a ghost that just won't leave you alone, and you have an experience that could only be remembered fondly by masochists. Now, Spelunker has been faithfully ported to the iOS under the title Everyday Spelunker. So, 30 years on, how does the game stand up? Now, we coul…
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Rayman Fiesta Run Review
Rayman Jungle Run is a hard act to follow. With its dazzling visuals, tight-as-a-drum controls, and endlessly inventive levels, it set the standard for auto-runners on iOS. For the inevitable sequel, Rayman Fiesta Run, Ubisoft has pulled Rayman out of the trees and into the kitchen - or should that be 'la cocina'. You see, this sequel is all about food - specifically, Mexican food. Every aspect of every level has a distinctly Latin flavour. You'll smash pinatas and swing from da…
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Naught 2 Review
Naught was one of the better silhouette platformer-puzzlers to appear on the App Store in 2011. In it, you took control of a bipedal cat, whom you had to slide around cavernous levels by tilting your iPhone or iPad. It was tricky, but once you get a handle on the angles it was a pretty good time. Now, the spelunking feline has returned in a new game featuring spruced up animations, faster levels, and some seriously testing bosses. Most of these changes make Naught 2 a prettier, more e…
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Soccer Moves Review
Soccer Moves' turn-based soccer gameplay presents a profound metaphysical question. Sure, the goal is to move, pass, and score a goal by outwitting your opposition. However, your teammates are exact replicas of one another, raising a deeper question about the various roles we assume and shift between in the games we play. We're just kidding - it's about balls and that. Instead of employing the grids used in most turn based strategy titles, Soccer Moves uses a radial system to co…
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Chippy Review
Do you thrive in high pressure situations? I bet your CV says you do. If you genuinely do perform well in high intensity environments, then Chippy might be the game for you. Chippy is a time management game in the style of Diner Dash. You man the fryer in traditional British fish and chip shop. It's your job to keep customers happy by taking their orders and preparing their greasy yet nutritious dinners in a timely fashion. Things start off simple. To cook chips, you simply grab them…
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Vlad Review
With a name like Vlad, you'd be forgiven for thinking that Bulkypix's latest interactive effort is about the nocturnal adventures of a vampire. Though the game is dark and eerie, it has nothing to do with the children of Dracula, and everything to do with rearranging blocks. It's up to the player to move sentient blocks around each stage in order to help a squiggly-blobby thing called Vlad reach an object at the end of the level. Vlad moves forward automatically, stopping if he encoun…
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BIT.TRIP RUN! Review
Earlier this year, Gaijin Games released Bit.Trip Presents Runner 2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien on PC and consoles. Now, the team has ported the game to iOS, and slimmed-down the title to the slightly more manageable Bit.Trip Run! Fans of the game might be worried that this mobile version has lost more than just its unweildy title. However, we can report that the entire game has been adapted faithfully to the touch screen, albeit with a few tweaks here and there. That said, it's no…
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Thor: The Dark World - The Official Game Review
Thor is one of the more straightforward superheroes in Marvel's expansive catalogue. Son of Odin, the allfather and ruler of of Asgard, Thor has no alter-ego or mysterious origin story. He's a god, who comes from a realm of gods, and who likes to hit things with a big hammer. However, Gameloft's free-to-play brawler Thor: The Dark World - The Official Game is anything but straightforward. In this messy top-down smash-'em-up, our hero's combat prowess is sidelined in favour of man…
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The Occupant Review
The Occupant is the latest in a line of Slenderman-inspired survival-horror games. For some inexplicable reason, you find yourself trapped in an abandoned hotel with a creature known as the Occupant. Each stage has you fulfilling a series of tasks before you can move onto the next floor. As you complete these task, the creature is silently stalking the hallways in search of you. Let's make one thing perfectly clear; it's not the jump scares that make The Occupant creepy - rather, it's…
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Anomaly 2 Review
When Anomaly Warzone Earth rolled onto the App Store two years ago, it made a big impact. Not only did it popularise the now well-established tower offense genre, it proved you could port high-quality PC releases to the App Store without compromising too much functionality. Anomaly 2, the first true sequel after the Anomaly Korea expansion, brings back the futuristic sci-fi warfare that made the original game so popular, and adds just enough bells and whistles to warrant you giving th…
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